icon
noun
Simple meaning
A small picture that represents something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
eyekahnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈaɪkɑn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
graphical user interface
A small picture that represents something.
Internetinformal
An image used to represent a user; an avatar or profile picture.
An image, symbol, picture, portrait, or other representation, usually as an object of religious devotion.
by extension
A person or thing that is the best example of a certain profession or some doing.
A conventional religious painting in oil on a small wooden panel; venerated in the Eastern Church
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (graphical user interface) A small picture that represents something.
Used this way, icon is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- ikon , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use icon
- “That famous painting is an icon of modern art and culture.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to A small picture that represents something.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: small picture that represents something
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.