proverbial

adjective pro·ver·bi·al \ prə-ˈvər-bē-əl \

|Updated on: 31 Jul 2018

Examples: proverbial in a Sentence

Definition of proverbial

1 : of, relating to, or resembling a proverb

2 : that has become a proverb or byword : commonly spoken of

the proverbial smoking gun

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proverbially

play \prə-ˈvər-bē-ə-lē\ adverb

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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

Recent Examples of proverbial from the Web

There’s often a proverbial fine line separating similar wine words — a single letter difference, or an inflection.

— michael austin, chicagotribune.com, "A lesson on wine terms that will go down easy," 13 June 2018
Particularly on the road, Auburn has allowed opponents to dictate the pace more during the first half of games and then puts its proverbial foot on the gas after halftime.

— james crepea, AL.com, "Depth the reason for Auburn basketball's consistent 50-point second halves," 25 Jan. 2018
But what everyone really remembers about these proverbial times isn’t their purity.

— film crit hulk, The Verge, "Don’t feed the trolls, and other hideous lies," 12 July 2018
On Thursday the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the latest effort to send ACA markets into the proverbial death spiral.

— margaret hartmann, Daily Intelligencer, "Trump Administration Aims to Steer People Toward Junk Health Plans Over Obamacare," 11 July 2018
The proverbial straw hits the camel’s back,’’ said Hutcher, explaining why Cintron had filed suit now.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Trump’s longtime personal driver sues for overtime wages," 9 July 2018
The Enquirer/Scott Springer After a few struggles and stints on the disabled list in his first two professional seasons, the third has been the proverbial charm for Mason High School product TJ Zeuch.

— scott springer, Cincinnati.com, "Mason's Zeuch, former 1st-round draft pick, moves up in Blue Jays baseball organization," 3 July 2018
In this episode, it’s Chandler who needs the proverbial chicken soup.

— vanessa golembewski, Glamour, "Have You Noticed They're Always Reading on Friends? Yes, Even Joey," 2 July 2018
Adding Williams would be the proverbial cherry on top of Dana Altman's historic class.

— andrew nemec, OregonLive.com, "Brandon Williams, 5-star PG, places Oregon Ducks in top 3; Decision near?," 16 Apr. 2018

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