proverbial
adjective
pro·ver·bi·al
prə-ˈvər-bē-əl 
1
: of, relating to, or resembling a proverb
2
: that has become a proverb or byword : commonly spoken of
the proverbial smoking gun
Examples of proverbial in a Sentence
Insanity roamed through her large midwestern tribe, cloistered in proverbial dark closets in gabled houses in areas of the country where no one else lived for miles and miles …
—
Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness, 1991
I keep running across people who speak fondly about what they imagine to be the comforts of autocracy, who long for the assurances of the proverbial man on the white horse likely to do something hard and puritanical about the moral relativism that has made a mess of the cities, the schools, and prime-time television.
—Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, November 1990
Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness, 1991
I keep running across people who speak fondly about what they imagine to be the comforts of autocracy, who long for the assurances of the proverbial man on the white horse likely to do something hard and puritanical about the moral relativism that has made a mess of the cities, the schools, and prime-time television.
—Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, November 1990
Recent Examples on the Web
Huang was of course at Nvidia in the beginning, and his enormous wealth exists as evidence of what can happen when early investors or employees stay the proverbial course amid immense share-price volatility.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
The weekly farmer’s market at Salt Lake Park is a proverbial ghost town.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2025
The proverbial elephant in the room is the restricted free agency of shooting guard Quentin Grimes, which at this point has yielded almost no movement.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 8 July 2025
Often times the proverbial writing is on the wall given a head coach's performance, but there are often one-year resets that shock everyone.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for proverbial
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
John Tamny, Forbes.com, 12 July 2025
The weekly farmer’s market at Salt Lake Park is a proverbial ghost town.
—Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2025
The proverbial elephant in the room is the restricted free agency of shooting guard Quentin Grimes, which at this point has yielded almost no movement.
—Tony Jones, New York Times, 8 July 2025
Often times the proverbial writing is on the wall given a head coach's performance, but there are often one-year resets that shock everyone.
—James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for proverbial
Cite this Entry
“Proverbial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proverbial. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
proverbial
adjective
pro·ver·bi·al
prə-ˈvər-bē-əl
1
: of, relating to, or resembling a proverb
proverbial wisdom
2
: commonly spoken of
the proverbial beginner's luck
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share