English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From the usage of appealing young people and children in charitable advertisements.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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poster child (plural poster children)

  1. (chiefly Canada, US, idiomatic) One who is a prototypical or quintessential example of something.
    Coordinate term: pin-up
    He's a poster child for militant vegetarianism.
    • 2005, Susan Cunningham, “Poster Child”, in Unwrapping the Sandwich Generation. Life Vignettes about Seniors & Their Adult Boomer Children[2], Morgan James Publishing, →ISBN, page 175:
      I think he smile could have opened the door by itself. It seemed to have a life of it’s[sic] own with snow-white teeth below sparkling blue eyes. Its owner could be the poster child for the expression “grinning from ear to ear.”
    • 2006, Ted Dekker, Bill Bright, Blessed Child[3], Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 77:
      “He’s not exactly a poster child for the average well-adjusted American kid. He’s only been in-country for a few days.”
    • 2008, Susan B. Neuman, “Changing the Odds though After-School Programs”, in Changing the Odds for Children at Risk: Seven Essential Principles of Educations Programs that Break the Cycle of Poverty[4], ABC-CLIO, →ISBN, page 169:
      A visit to Adventure Island–an after-school program developed by Robert Slavin and Nancy Madden, professors at Johns Hospkins University and creators of Success for All, a comprehensive school reform program practiced in hundreds of schools across the country–could be the poster child for what some might call the academic approach.
    • 2013 December 16, Caitlin Dewey, “Two-year-old Photoshopped Jennifer Lawrence magazine cover draws criticism”, in The Washington Post[5]:
      But it isn’t difficult to see why Lawrence, who has since become the poster child for healthy body image, elicits such strong reactions — particularly in GIF form, where differences between the original and Photoshopped images are clear.

Hypernyms

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Hyponyms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Caroline Eubanks (2022 August 5) Mental Floss[1], Minute Media, retrieved 2022-08-10