as in analogy
an elaborate or fanciful way of expressing something
"it's raining cats and dogs" is just a colorful metaphor and not a meteorological announcement
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Recent Examples of metaphor
The Boogeyman, on the other hand, takes a nasty little Stephen King story and turns it into yet another exploration of (Jamie Lee Curtis voice) trauma, where the title demon is a metaphor for grief.
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Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
Harry Milas is a veritable magician with a metaphor.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Feb. 2025
In her debut memoir, No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce, Haley Mlotek shows how this central incompatibility yields a useful provocation: There are hazards in relying on stories as the prevailing metaphor for one’s romantic experiences, and even one’s life in total.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2025
For Giedi Prime, septic tanks became the visual metaphor associated with the Hardonnen and their morals of a sewer.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 21 Feb. 2025
Harry Milas is a veritable magician with a metaphor.
—David L. Coddon, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Feb. 2025
In her debut memoir, No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce, Haley Mlotek shows how this central incompatibility yields a useful provocation: There are hazards in relying on stories as the prevailing metaphor for one’s romantic experiences, and even one’s life in total.
—Rachel Vorona Cote, The Atlantic, 19 Feb. 2025
For Giedi Prime, septic tanks became the visual metaphor associated with the Hardonnen and their morals of a sewer.
—Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs
Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes
Cite this Entry
“Metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/metaphor. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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