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
  • When the United States joined NATO in 1949, American policymakers pointed to the Rio Pact as a precedent and drew analogies between the alliance’s founding document, the North Atlantic Treaty, and the Monroe Doctrine.
    JENNIFER KAVANAGH, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Where words divide, the Saint Laurent aesthetic creates space to breathe and invent new analogies.
    Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 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
  • So, the vertices that are indexing positions of my code word.
    Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 7 Aug. 2025
  • The two decide to remedy that by packing four years' worth of adventure into one extremely chaotic, hilarious night, hyping each other up with compliments and providing unconditional support whenever one of them says their code word: Malala.
    Sophie Dodd, People.com, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • But more alarming than the ways in which this physical space could turn against us was the simple metaphor of a wizened little man pulling a boat down a river in the dark.
    Ann Patchett, New Yorker, 29 Sep. 2025
  • Obviously, the zombie metaphor is quite obvious.
    Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 29 Sep. 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 2 Oct. 2025.

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