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
Watch the Kelce brothers discuss Lively and the metaphor of traveling pants above.
—
Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
And while the film’s metaphor seems to indicate that Jesse’s burgeoning sexuality is something to fear, the ridiculousness of the dialogue and Patton’s shrieking performance make this a perverse camp classic.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
The sequence is pure spectacle, but amidst the heavy-handed metaphor, there's a timely commentary about the risks of relying on this type of technology at all.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 7 Oct. 2025
Simmons also used a metaphor of sorts.
—Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Oct. 2025
And while the film’s metaphor seems to indicate that Jesse’s burgeoning sexuality is something to fear, the ridiculousness of the dialogue and Patton’s shrieking performance make this a perverse camp classic.
—Samantha Allen, Them., 7 Oct. 2025
The sequence is pure spectacle, but amidst the heavy-handed metaphor, there's a timely commentary about the risks of relying on this type of technology at all.
—Elisabeth Sherman, Parents, 7 Oct. 2025
Simmons also used a metaphor of sorts.
—Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 5 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphor
analogy
Noun
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But Calise reminded the audience AI development and adoption is very much still in the first inning, to use a baseball analogy.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
13 Oct. 2025
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Max’s wide range of uses has prompted analogies to China’s WeChat.—
Justin Sherman,
The Atlantic,
11 Oct. 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 18 Oct. 2025.
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