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.
When he was arrested on theft and fraud charges in 2023, contractor Ricky McGraw was held up as the poster child for Florida’s crumbling insurance market. Lawrence Mower, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2026 The species even starred in a documentary with David Attenborough, making the predator an unlikely poster child for Queensland waters. Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026 Hernandez in particular would be a fitting poster child for the change in voter philosophy. Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald, 25 Jan. 2026 Across the 20th century, GE was a poster child for American industrial invention and scale, from power generators and light bulbs to jet engines, medical imaging, and early computing. Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 21 Jan. 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

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Cite this Entry

“Poster child.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poster%20child. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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