afterimage

[ af-ter-im-ij, ahf- ]

noun

, Psychology.

1. a visual image or other sense impression that persists after the stimulus that caused it is no longer operative.

afterimage

/ ˈɑːftərˌɪmɪdʒ /

noun

1. a sustained or renewed sensation, esp visual, after the original stimulus has ceased Also calledaftersensationphotogene

Word History and Origins

Origin of afterimage¹

1875–80; translation of German Nachbild; after, image

Example Sentences

With an orange and yellow face, teal-ringed eyes and oversize lips, it could be the glowing afterimage of someone who’s looked in the mirror a moment too long.

From New York Times

Bodies — theirs and others — fill in the space, but their afterimage reverberates.

From New York Times

Once, when I was a teenager, I saw a fireball that was so bright that it left an afterimage on my eye.

From Scientific American

Her scores can evoke the glint and glare of staring at the sun — its beauty, its harshness, its burning afterimage — but also the slowly dizzying churn of the depths of the sea.

From New York Times

When she tilted her head, she seemed to break into three different people again...misty afterimages blurring together, like a photograph of someone moving too fast to capture.

From Literature

Related Words

• appearance
• eye
• perception
• view
• vision