idol
/ˈaɪ.dl̩//ˈaɪ.dl̩/
idol noun: a graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power.
Noun
idol (plural idols)
- A graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power.
- 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship deuils, and idoles of golde, and siluer, and brasse, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor heare, nor walke:
21 Neither repented they of their...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 9:20–21 - Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke. He was dressed out in broad gaiters and bright tweeds, like an English tourist, and his face might have belonged to Dagon, idol of the Philistines.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
- 20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship deuils, and idoles of golde, and siluer, and brasse, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor heare, nor walke:
- A cultural icon, or especially popular person.
- A popular entertainer, usually young, captivating and attractive, and often female, with an image of being close to fans.
- Tom Cruise is his idol.
- Sachin Tendulkar is Rohan's idol.
- An eidolon or phantom; a misleading or elusive image or representation.
idol meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
idol in Hindi
- representation of anything revered
- बुत but, मूर्ति mūrti, प्रतिमा pratimā
idol in Tamil
- தெய்வச்சிலை
idol in Marathi
- representation of anything revered
- मूर्ती mūrtī
- cultural icon, especially popular person
- आयडल āyḍal
- (Asia, originally Japan) popular performer
- आयडल āyḍal
idol in Urdu
- representation of anything revered
- بُت but
More languagesFewer languages
- idol in Bengali
- বুত but, মূর্তি murti, ভাস্কর্য bhaskorjo
- idol in Telugu
- విగ్రహం vigrahaṁ, విగ్రహము vigrahamu
- idol in Malayalam
- വിഗ്രഹം vigrahaṁ
- idol in Kannada
- ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ kaṭṭaḷe
- idol in Punjabi
- ਮੂਰਤੀ mūrtī
- idol in Gujarati
- મૂર્તિ mūrti, દેવપ્રતિમા devapratimā, પૂતળું pūtaḷũ
- idol in Odia
- ମୂର୍ତ୍ତି murtti
- idol in Sanskrit
- देवता devatā
- idol in Sinhala
- පිළිමය piḷimaya
- idol in Pashto
- بت but
- idol in Arabic
- صَنَم ṣanam, وَثَن waṯan, آيْدُول ʔāydūl
- idol in Malay
- pujaan, berhala
- idol in Indonesian
- berhala, pujaan, idola
- idol in Persian
- بُت bot, آیدل âydol
- idol in Thai
- เทวรูป tee-wá-rûup, รูปเคารพ rûup-kao-róp, ไอดอล ai-dɔ̂l
- idol in Vietnamese
- thần tượng
- idol in Myanmar
- ရုပ်တု ruptu.
Examples of idol in a sentence
- The clothing and unclothing of the idols was of special significance.
- His idol bowled a leg break that was sent flying for four.
- After the scandal, the idol lost his luster and could only get work in Vegas.
Synonyms of idol
Forms of idol
| plural | idols |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | idoll |
Origin of idol
From Middle English ydole, from Old French idole, from Latin idolum, from Ancient Greek εἴδωλον (eídōlon, “image, idol”), from εἶδος (eîdos, “form”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéydos (“seeing, image”), from *weyd- (“to see”). Doublet of aidoru, eidolon, and idolum and related to idea.
Words formed from idol
Phrases with idol
Words that rhyme with idol
Questions about idol
- What does idol mean?
- Idol means a graven image or representation of anything that is revered, or believed to convey spiritual power.
- What is idol in Hindi?
- Idol in Hindi is बुत (but), मूर्ति (mūrti), प्रतिमा (pratimā). See Idol meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is idol?
- Idol is a noun.
- How do you pronounce idol?
- Idol is pronounced /ˈaɪ.dl̩/ (UK).
- What is the plural of idol?
- The plural of idol is idols.
Words near idol in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: idol (page history and authors); idol (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಕಟ್ಟಳೆ (Kannada) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-idol.wav, en-us-idol.ogg.
Cite this entry: “idol.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/idol. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.