Phrase guide

imaginary lat syndrome

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˌmæd͡ʒɪn(ə)ɹi ˈlæt ˌsɪndɹəʊm/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /-dɹəm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: /ɪˌmæd͡ʒɪˌnɛɹi ˈlæt ˌsɪndɹoʊm/
  • General-American: /-dɹəm/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A tendency for one to adopt a posture as if one had larger latissimus dorsi muscles than one actually has, especially a posture where the arms are held away from the torso.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, humorous, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ILS, invisible lat syndrome

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From imaginary + lat (“(slang) latissimus dorsi muscle”) + syndrome.

Across languages

Translations

1 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: leveäharteinen ryhti — tendency for one to adopt a posture as if one had larger latissimus dorsi muscles than one actually has