poster child

noun

1
: a child who has a disease and is pictured in posters to solicit funds for combating the disease
2
: a person having a public image that is identified with something (such as a cause)

Examples of poster child in a Sentence

She was a stirring speaker and activist and soon became the poster child of the antiwar movement.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Awash in 10-foot-high floodwaters, this area became the disaster’s unwitting poster child, its destruction still strewn about 21 years later. — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 21 Oct. 2026 CoreWeave was the poster child of last week's declines, plunging more than 25%. — Fred Imbert, CNBC, 19 Oct. 2026 CoreWeave is the poster child for AI debt, and as of its second quarter earnings, owed more than $35 billion. — Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 19 Oct. 2026 The founder of 777 Partners, the poster child for the underbelly of Wall Street’s insurance push, pleaded guilty to fraud Thursday. — Liz Hoffman, semafor.com, 16 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for poster child

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of poster child was in 1938

Rhymes for poster child

See All Rhymes for poster child

Browse Nearby Words

poster boy
poster child
poster color
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Cite this Entry

“Poster child.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poster%20child. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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