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
And an injured Tatum, a fellow Justice Leaguer in this metaphor, was powerless to aid them.
—
C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 17 May 2025
The threadbare plot is set in motion when Tesfaye’s screen-self (henceforth referred to as Abel) loses his voice while touring, a real-life incident forced here into heavy-handed metaphor as an existential ailment symptomatic of his deeper issues with himself and women.
—Charles Bramesco, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
The debut feature transforms the Japanese capital’s architectural flux into a metaphor for a family navigating grief and disconnection.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 May 2025
Without that essential kernel of referentiality, there can be no metaphor at all.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 17 May 2025
The threadbare plot is set in motion when Tesfaye’s screen-self (henceforth referred to as Abel) loses his voice while touring, a real-life incident forced here into heavy-handed metaphor as an existential ailment symptomatic of his deeper issues with himself and women.
—Charles Bramesco, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
The debut feature transforms the Japanese capital’s architectural flux into a metaphor for a family navigating grief and disconnection.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 15 May 2025
Without that essential kernel of referentiality, there can be no metaphor at all.
—Andrea Long Chu, Vulture, 6 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphor
analogy
Noun
-
When these optimization processes lead to outcomes that disregard human values or well-being in subtle yet significant ways, the analogy to psychopathic tendencies becomes less of a hyperbolic statement and more of a cautionary observation.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
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So Penders goes for the colorful analogy, me for the random Hamlet references.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
19 May 2025
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 1 Jun. 2025.
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