as in code word
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of dead metaphor
Many of our emotion terms are references to states of the body—we’re downcast, bent out of shape, head over heels, shaken up, down in the mouth—which have slowly rigidified into dead metaphor.
—
Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.
—Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.
—Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dead metaphor
Noun
-
Rana recommends coming up with a secret code word to use with your family.—
Audrey Nguyen,
NPR,
24 Dec. 2024
-
The guidelines had the opposite effect, encouraging streamers to lead with the code words they’d been barred from: a push against standards meant to actually censor players.—
Megan Farokhmanesh,
WIRED,
20 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
But an American Iron Dome has been understood by some as a euphemism for a more comprehensive, layered defense against countries like Russia, China or North Korea.—
Barbara A. Perry,
Newsweek,
28 Jan. 2025
-
Angelou’s memoir was itself a part of the broader movement of women speaking publicly about parts of their lives that had so long been shrouded in euphemism, secrecy, and shame.—
TIME,
TIME,
28 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
No analogy is perfect, but a different historical moment feels, to me, more immediate and more challenging as a reference point.—
Robert Pinsky,
The New Yorker,
30 Jan. 2025
-
The New Orleans native shared an analogy of a five-year-old who imagines being the knight in shining armor and having to slay a dragon to save the princess in a tower.—
Mya Abraham,
VIBE.com,
28 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
The relationship with the dog, for me, was a metaphor for my interaction with everyone.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2025
-
The clock, which is updated by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, is meant to be a metaphor for how close humanity is to self-annihilation.—
Rebecca Morin,
USA TODAY,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
This is what Thadeus loves: a test of his store of poetic similes, even if, these days, his poetry-writing is notional.—
Han Ong,
The New Yorker,
12 Jan. 2025
-
The simile is novel and yet the sort of thing a young woman would think; there is assonance and consonance seesawing across the sentence, which is slow and gorgeous rather than quick and thrilling.—
Joanna Biggs,
Harper's Magazine,
2 Feb. 2024
Articles Related to dead metaphor
Thesaurus Entries Near dead metaphor
Cite this Entry
“Dead metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dead%20metaphor. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share