Synonyms of metaphor

metaphor

noun

ˈme-tə-ˌfȯr 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• analogy
• figure of speech
• device
• conceit
• simile
• euphemism
• code word
• circumlocution
• dead metaphor
• catachresis
• mixed metaphor
• crank

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of metaphor

This is, Meghan O’Gieblyn argues in our June 25, 2026, issue, a distinctly parental anxiety, a primordial kind of maternal metaphor that appears over and over again in writing and interviews about AI development. — Meghan O’Gieblyn, The New York Review of Books, 11 July 2026

As mental shortcuts, or heuristic devices, metaphors are common in political communication. — David Rooney, The Conversation, 10 July 2026

The frog in boiling water metaphor is just a little too on the nose. — Elizabeth Shackelford, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026

That reframing, from raw capability to fit-for-purpose deployment, is where the David and Goliath analogy becomes more than a metaphor. — Rivindu Perera, Forbes.com, 8 July 2026

Video

When Body Parts Are Also Verbs

Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes