Definition

Noun: A composite image of a person's face, specifically one created by police using a system of transparent overlays depicting different facial features. These overlays are combined based on witness descriptions to form a visual representation of a suspect.

Usage

This term is used primarily in law enforcement and media contexts to refer to a mechanically or digitally assembled facial likeness. - The police released an identikit picture of the robbery suspect based on the clerk's description. - Witnesses worked with a sketch artist to produce an identikit picture that was circulated to the public.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often associated with a specific proprietary system (Identikit) but is used generically for similar composite sketch methods.
• It can be used metaphorically to describe any pieced-together or composite description.
  • The biography provided only an identikit picture of the author's early life, assembled from scattered letters.

Variants and Related Words

• Identikit (noun, often used attributively): The proprietary system or kit for creating such pictures.
  • The detective opened the identikit case.
• Composite sketch (noun phrase): A more general term for a drawing made from assembled descriptions.
• Police sketch (noun phrase): A hand-drawn likeness based on a witness description.

Synonyms

• Composite portrait
• Facial composite
• Police artist's sketch

Related Phrases

• To put together an identikit picture: The process of creating the composite.
  • Investigators are trying to put together an identikit picture from the conflicting accounts.

Noun

1. a likeness of a person's face constructed from descriptions given to police; uses a set of transparencies of various facial features that can be combined to build up a picture of the person sought