Meaning & use
image conscious
Last updated
Meaning
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Very concerned about the way other people see you, your appearance or your reputation.
Grammar: Can follow be or come before a noun: she is image conscious; an image-conscious brand.
Patterns
- be image conscious
- image conscious about something
Teenagers tend to be very image conscious about clothes.
The image-conscious politician never went out without a suit.
He grew image conscious after his promotion.
Word forms
| comparative | more image conscious |
|---|---|
| superlative | most image conscious |
Common combinations
- very image conscious
- The brand's customers are very image conscious.
- image-conscious teenagers
- Image-conscious teenagers follow every trend.
- image-conscious politician
- An image-conscious politician hires stylists.
- become image conscious
- He became image conscious in his twenties.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vain
- Vain is more negative, suggesting excessive pride in one's looks, whereas image conscious may just mean careful.
- appearance-conscious
- This stresses looks only, while image conscious includes reputation as well.
- self-conscious
- Self-conscious means nervous in front of others, not careful about how you present yourself.
Opposites
Word family
- image noun
- public impression of someone or something
- conscious adjective
- aware
- consciousness noun
- awareness
Commonly confused: image conscious or self-conscious?
image conscious vs self-conscious
Self-conscious means uncomfortable or shy, while image conscious means caring about public impression.
Practice
A person who never leaves home without perfect hair and clothes is probably ____.
Choose one answer.
Image conscious means caring about how you look to others. Carefree is the opposite meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “image conscious”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.