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Synonyms

looking glass

American  

noun

  1. a mirror made of glass with a metallic or amalgam backing.

  2. the glass used in a mirror.

  3. anything used as a mirror, as highly polished metal or a reflecting surface.

looking glass British  

noun

  1. a mirror, esp a ladies' dressing mirror

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. with normal or familiar circumstances reversed; topsy-turvy

    a looking-glass world
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of looking glass

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

In 2012, Lauren Rivera, a professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, coined the term "looking glass merit" to describe the unconscious tendency that humans have to define merit in a way that is self-validating.

From Salon • Jan. 30, 2025

On a recent episode of What Next, we went through the looking glass in the Darién Gap.

From Slate • May 11, 2024

To understand what’s up with her mom, she’ll have to go through the looking glass.

From New York Times • Feb. 20, 2024

"Defendants have clearly stepped through the looking glass."

From Reuters • Sep. 22, 2023

The reflection staring back at me from the looking glass appeared grotesque and strange.

From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.