American icon
Cultural touchstone stateside
An American icon is a person, thing, or image that has come to symbolize some aspect of American culture or identity.
The Statue of Liberty is an American icon of freedom; Marilyn Monroe became an American icon of glamour and tragedy.
Icons may represent ideals, eras, or cultural movements: Elvis remains an American icon, The muscle car is an American icon of postwar prosperity.
The phrase often appears in obituaries and tributes, sometimes applied loosely to anyone famous enough.
- White HouseOfficial presidential residence
- Statue of LibertyIsland colossus near Manhattan
- Babe RuthLegendary Yankees slugger
- baseball capSoft hat, stiff brim
- Steve JobsApple's co-founder and longtime CEO
George Washington · Marilyn Monroe · Harriet Tubman · iconic · Susan B. Anthony · Abraham Lincoln · Jackie Robinson · Muhammad Ali · Frederick Douglass · American flag · Stars and Stripes · Mount Rushmore · Amelia Earhart · Elvis Presley · Rosa Parks · Billie Jean King · Martin Luther King Jr. · Benjamin Franklin
- George Washingtonfirst president, Mount Vernon, founding father, Continental Army, crossing the Delaware
American iconobscurity
State of being unknown
nobody · average Joe · man on the street · has-been · flash in the pan
American iconglobal icon
Universally famous figure
Queen Elizabeth II · Winston Churchill · Napoleon · Che Guevara · Big Ben