allegory

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noun al·le·go·ry \ˈa-lə-ˌgȯr-ē\

Definition of allegory

plural

allegories

1 : the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence a writer known for his use of allegory; also : an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression The poem is an allegory of love and jealousy.
2 : a symbolic representation : emblem 2

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Examples of allegory in a Sentence

Luther dismissed this mystical reading of the creative act as mere “allegory.” But for Augustine the six days are not just a rhetorical trope. They are unlike the figurative language of the curse on the snake. To say that Christ is a shepherd is a metaphor; but to say that he is light is literal, since physical light is a “shadow” of the real light spoken of in Genesis. —Garry Wills, Under God, 1990
The Scarlet Letter is his masterpiece, because of the simplicity of its allegory and the grandeur of its colonial, Jacobean setting—and because of its shocking subject so nervously handled. Hester and Dimmesdale are sacred and profane love, subjects for Titian, yet conventionally clothed. —Robert Lowell, Collected Prose, 1987
He saw thousands of Buddhas lined up in trays in the tourist shops … some in lead, some in wood, some carved in stone and dressed in a little knitted caps and capes. He came to see in this ubiquitous phenomenon the Buddha's godlike propensity for self-division, the endless fractioning of himself into every perceivable aspect, an allegory made by the people of Japan from the cellular process of life. —E. L. Doctorow, Loon Lake, 1979

Recent Examples of allegory from the Web

But there the yin/yang allegory wasn’t too neat: Both guys were responsible for a romance novel suggesting deep shame for how things had been left with Nora.

— spencer kornhaber and sophie gilbert, The Atlantic, "The Leftovers: Seeing Double", 28 May 2017
One thing is sure as the bereaved Alexandra motors through a foreign country looking to unload her burden of ash and bone: Kostova isn’t afraid of a good allegory.

— chelsea cain, New York Times, "Missing Persons", 26 May 2017
Theatre for a New Audience stages Thornton Wilder’s 1942 comic allegory, which traces humankind from prehistory to twentieth-century New Jersey and beyond.

— The New Yorker, "The Skin of Our Teeth", 28 Feb. 2017
Igor Stravinsky, who wrote the music in 1928, saw it as an allegory of the artist’s destiny, an idea that has resonated with choreographers ever since.

— marina harss, New York Times, "Revisiting ‘The Fairy’s Kiss,’ a Ballet About an Artist’s Destiny", 7 Feb. 2017
Many viewed the film as an allegory, although to what remains in dispute 60 years later.

— linda greenhouse, New York Times, "Invasion of the Agency Snatchers", 22 Dec. 2016
Mr. Oz rejects any reading of his book as an allegory for his political beliefs.

— gal beckerman, New York Times, "Judas, Jesus and Politics: Amos Oz’s New Novel DEC. 7, 2016", 18 Nov. 2016
But the supreme achievement of Bresson’s film lies precisely in its straddling allegory and realism.

— sohrab ahmari, WSJ, "‘The World in an Hour and a Half’", 28 Oct. 2016
His plots have the dark glimmer of medieval allegory.

— nathaniel rich, The Atlantic, "The Tender Arsonist", 20 June 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'allegory'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of allegory

Middle English allegorie, from Latin allegoria, from Greek allēgoria, from allēgorein to speak figuratively, from allos other + -ēgorein to speak publicly, from agora assembly — more at else, agora

First Known Use: 14th century