effigy

UK: /ˈɛfɪdʒi/ US: /ˈɛfɪdʒi/ ,(ef′i jē)

Inflections of 'effigy' (n): npl: effigies

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ef•fi•gy /ˈɛfɪdʒi/   n. [countable] , pl. -gies. 

1. a representation or image, esp. of someone who is disliked, used for ridicule:
   The protesters burned effigies of the dictator during the riots.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

ef•fi•gy  (ef′i jē), n., pl. -gies. 

1. a representation or image, esp. sculptured, as on a monument.
2. a crude representation of someone disliked, used for purposes of ridicule.
3. Idioms in effigy, in public view in the form of an effigy:
   a leader hanged in effigy by the mob.

• Latin effigia, equivalent. to effig- (ef- ef- + fig- shape, form; see figure) + -ia -y³
• Middle French)
• 1530–40; (

ef•fig•i•al  (i fij′ē əl), adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

effigy / ˈɛfɪdʒɪ/ noun ( -gies)

1. a portrait of a person, esp as a monument or architectural decoration
2. a crude representation of someone, used as a focus for contempt or ridicule and often hung up or burnt in public (often in the phrases burn or hang in effigy)

Etymology: 18th Century: from Latin effigiēs, from effingere to form, portray, from fingere to shape