black mirror

plural black mirrors

1. A mirror used to practice divination or other magic rituals.

   She had marvellous eyes; great, wide-open, and as black and soft as velvet, with a mysterious depth. To look in them was like gazing at a black mirror such as Doctor Dee used in his wizard rites.

   1903, Bram Stoker, “The Watchers”, in The Jewel of Seven Stars, published 1912

2. paintingSynonym of Claude glass.

   Thus, when Manet speaks of using the black mirror—and X-ray examinations of the head seem to confirm his statements—he does so, apparently, in the manner of those Renaissance painters who saw it as a “judge” and “master”.

   2004, Arnaud Maillet, translated by Jeff Fort, The Claude glass: use and meaning of the black mirror in western art, New York: Zone Books, →ISBN, page 120

   Synonyms: Claude glass

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see black, mirror.

1. InternetderogatoryexcessiveuncountableA technocratic dystopia of the kind featured in the television series Black Mirror.

   This AI-generated uncanny-valley metaverse avatar is straight out of Black Mirror.