Holographic describes something that creates or relates to three-dimensional images that appear to float in space. A hologram uses special light technology (usually lasers) to record and display an image that looks solid and real even though it's just light. A holographic image has depth: you can move around it and see different angles, just like looking at a real object from different sides, while a regular photograph is flat and shows only one view.

You've probably seen holographic stickers that shimmer with rainbow colors and seem to shift as you tilt them. Those aren't the same kind of holograms used for 3D images in space, but they use similar light-bending tricks. In science fiction movies like Star Wars, characters communicate through holographic messages that appear as glowing, transparent figures floating in midair. Scientists and engineers are working to make that kind of technology real.

Museums sometimes use holographic displays to show artifacts, and credit cards often have holographic security features that are very hard to counterfeit. When something is described as holographic, it usually means it has that special quality of appearing three-dimensional or having that characteristic shimmering, rainbow effect.