composograph

Etymology

From compose + -graph.

composograph means A retouched photographic collage formerly used in sensationalist journalism. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why “composograph” is a great word

COMPOSOGRAPH — [Noun] A retouched photographic collage fabricated from parts of other photographs, formerly used in sensationalist journalism to depict scenes not actually captured by a camera. From compose, meaning 'to put together', and the combining form -graph, meaning 'something written or drawn'. Unlike a "photograph" (an indexical trace of a moment) or a "photomontage" (a neutral term for any composite image), a composograph is an editorial Frankenstein, engineered for shock and credulity. It is the grisly, seamless ligature of a crime-scene head onto a stock-image torso, the impossible intimacy of a staged celebrity scandal, or the eerily plausible ghost summoned from spliced negatives—a testament to the dark alchemy where the most potent lies are assembled from fragments of the real.

noun

A retouched photographic collage formerly used in sensationalist journalism.