mirror image
This term describes a specific type of symmetry where an object is identical to another but flipped across an axis. While it often refers to literal reflections in glass or water, it is frequently used as a metaphor for people or things that are strikingly similar yet opposite in a structural or directional way.
In scientific contexts, particularly chemistry, the term carries a precise technical meaning regarding chirality. It describes molecules that are non-superimposable, meaning they cannot be placed exactly on top of one another despite being reflections, a distinction that can fundamentally change how a substance interacts with the human body.
Meanings
An image of something as it appears in a mirror, where the left and right sides are reversed.
The lake was so still that the mountains were reflected as a perfect mirror image on the surface.
A person or thing that is identical to another in appearance or characteristics, but reversed in orientation or symmetry.
The two sisters are mirror images of each other, though one is left-handed and the other is right-handed.
In chemistry and biology, a molecule or structure that is a non-superimposable reflection of another, also known as an enantiomer.
The drug was designed to target only one mirror image of the molecule to avoid side effects.