1
[ adjective ] serving as a visible symbol for something abstract

Examples

"a crown is emblematic of royalty" "the spinning wheel was as symbolic of colonial Massachusetts as the codfish"

Used in print

(Howard Nemerov, "Themes and Methods: The Early...)

In the work of every artist , I suppose , there may be found one or more moments which strike the student as absolutely decisive , ultimately emblematic of what it is all about ; not less strikingly so for being mysterious , as though some deeply hidden constatation of thoughts were enciphered in a single image , a single moment .

It appears that the dominant tendency of Mann 's early tales , however pictorial or even picturesque the surface , is already toward the symbolic , the emblematic , the expressionistic .

The first sentence , with its platitudinous irony , announces an emblematic intent : `` The way to the churchyard ran_along beside the highroad , ran beside it all_the_way to the end ; that_is_to_say , to the churchyard '' .

Related terms

representative

2
[ adjective ] being or serving as an illustration of a type

Synonyms

exemplary typic

Examples

"the free discussion that is emblematic of democracy" "an action exemplary of his conduct";

Related terms

typical

*