as in parable
a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life
Dr. Seuss's story "The Sneetches" is a telling allegory about tolerance for people's differences
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Recent Examples of allegory
As an immigrant allegory himself, xenophobia feels incredibly strange on Superman.
—
Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 10 July 2025
Superman's foil comes in Hoult's Lex Luthor, a man proudly consumed by envy, who, as Lois deduces, wants to be king (who said comic book allegory needed to be subtle?).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 8 July 2025
The ending serves as a handy reminder that the zombie movie, more than perhaps any other strain of horror cinema, can be a potent conductor of allegory, metaphor, and polemic.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 June 2025
The piece, in some ways, was an allegory for the stories told during the dinner conversation, which focused on Caribbean heritage and eventually gave way to Immigration and Customs Enforcement patrols and cancellation of temporary protection status for many immigrants in the United States.
—Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for allegory
Kambole Campbell, Vulture, 10 July 2025
Superman's foil comes in Hoult's Lex Luthor, a man proudly consumed by envy, who, as Lois deduces, wants to be king (who said comic book allegory needed to be subtle?).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 8 July 2025
The ending serves as a handy reminder that the zombie movie, more than perhaps any other strain of horror cinema, can be a potent conductor of allegory, metaphor, and polemic.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 25 June 2025
The piece, in some ways, was an allegory for the stories told during the dinner conversation, which focused on Caribbean heritage and eventually gave way to Immigration and Customs Enforcement patrols and cancellation of temporary protection status for many immigrants in the United States.
—Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 12 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for allegory
Recent Examples of Synonyms for allegory
Noun
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It’s been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story.—
Jann E. Freed,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2025
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Some such principles can even be drawn from Christ’s own parables.—
Alejandro Antonio Chafuen,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2025
Noun
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As three people with remote connections to a house try to solve two brutal murders, the story becomes increasingly complicated and implausible, evolving into a fable about a cursed family.—
Pat Tompkins,
AFAR Media,
18 June 2025
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The Mulan legend is widely recounted in Chinese literature and inspired a fictional character in two Walt Disney movies based on the Chinese fable.—
Stephanie Balkwill,
The Conversation,
17 Mar. 2025
Noun
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That tale is just one of many in the story that don’t show Joel in an especially flattering light.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
18 July 2025
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The Coldplay public humiliation is a cautionary tale of atrophied American privacy.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
18 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Allegory.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/allegory. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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