catachresis

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for catachresis
Noun
  • Consider, for instance, the use of rhetorical figures such as metaphor or simile.
    Nino Letteriello, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
  • No metaphors or similes or hyperbolic language needed here – your kids are next.
    Rob Gagnon, Hartford Courant, 25 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • Germany teaches the Holocaust without euphemism, South Africa memorializes apartheid, and Rwanda preserves memory of genocide — nations gain respect by confronting their darkest chapters, not avoiding them.
    Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 27 Aug. 2025
  • Sometimes, this stems from their opinion that the supposedly tactful replacements for the R-word are equally if not more offensive — a classic example of the euphemism treadmill in practice.
    Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Cramer has another analogy about investing in meme stocks.
    Ryan Ermey, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Archery elk hunting is a good analogy for life.
    Devon O’Neil, Outside, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Their circumlocutions were as entrancing as their ability to find the most precisely ironic words for difficult-to-name realities.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2025
  • Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
    Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
Noun
  • Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor.
    Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024
  • The triple-mixed metaphor says it all: Licht & Co. are struggling with the intractable problem of how to square the CNN brand’s promise — straight news — with the entertainment imperatives of nighttime television.
    Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2022
Noun
  • Hughes went on to note the use of code words, particularly in a tactical environment.
    Dan Sheldon, New York Times, 8 Oct. 2025
  • Greater Manchester Police had declared PLATO – a national code word used when police deploy armed officers across the force to the scene of an attack, CNN understands.
    Peter Wilkinson, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Making the invisible measurable The parallel to physical fitness runs deeper than metaphor.
    Lyssanoel Frater, USA Today, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Following a young woman navigating life after growing up in an orphanage, the film transforms her shrinking apartment into a dreamlike maze of memory and loss, using striking visual metaphors to explore belonging, self-worth, and the fragile hope of starting over.
    Essie Assibu, Variety, 17 Oct. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Catachresis.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catachresis. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.

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