iconic

iconic [aɪ'kɒn.ɪk]

Very famous and well-know, and believed to represent a particular idea.

名词icon[ˈaɪkɒn]（名词和形容词的重音不同）表示图标，也可以表示“偶像” “代表人物”。今天我们学习它的形容词形式 iconic，意思是“偶像的”“标志性的”。在一些语境下它可以用来替换 important，famous，impressive 等词。

iconic 可以形容物也可以形容人。比如：

Nike/Starbucks/Coca-Cola/Tesla is an iconic brand.

Steve Jobs was an iconic entrepreneur and businessman.

《经济学人》在创刊 175 周年之际出版了第一本明信片书 Cover Story: A History in 100 Postcards，把 100 张精选的往期经典封面做成了明信片。官网上是这样介绍这本书的：

Cover Story is a postcard collection celebrating 175 years of iconic covers from The Economist.

《经济学人》在提到著名建筑“鸟巢”时用的就是 iconic：

Mr Zhong is a “grid manager” operating in part of Huayan Beili Xi Community, a middle-class residential area near the capital’s iconic “bird’s nest” Olympic stadium.

3. 怎样学会使用这个词？

1）翻译下面的句子：

阿汤哥（Tome Cruise）近 40 年的职业生涯中，他扮演过许多经典角色。

Tome Cruise had played many iconic characters during his nearly forty years career.

角色不会翻译，阿汤哥仍然在演戏，所以不要用过去完成时。

在近40年的职业生涯中 over the course of his nearly four-decade career, Tom Cruise has played many iconic characters.

1）  场景：苹果手机刚问世时简直就是标志性的手机。

When Iphone was first released, it had become an iconic products.