as in dead metaphor
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Recent Examples of code word
Halbreich told me that prominent art institutions are already using code words, like community, to talk about diversity.
—
Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025
These traffickers often use code words and emojis to avoid being detected by law enforcement or censored by platform guidelines.
—Rachel Hale, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2025
Vejar suggests planning your code word in advance for dangerous situations.
—Sherri Gordon, Parents, 31 Mar. 2025
The first half hour is filled with the weirdly neutral techno jargon of soldiers jabbering code words into their headphones to what I (as a know-nothing) am tempted to call Mission Control.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for code word
Rachel Corbett, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025
These traffickers often use code words and emojis to avoid being detected by law enforcement or censored by platform guidelines.
—Rachel Hale, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2025
Vejar suggests planning your code word in advance for dangerous situations.
—Sherri Gordon, Parents, 31 Mar. 2025
The first half hour is filled with the weirdly neutral techno jargon of soldiers jabbering code words into their headphones to what I (as a know-nothing) am tempted to call Mission Control.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for code word
Recent Examples of Synonyms for code word
Noun
-
Many of our emotion terms are references to states of the body—we’re downcast, bent out of shape, head over heels, shaken up, down in the mouth—which have slowly rigidified into dead metaphor.—
Nikhil Krishnan,
The New Yorker,
1 Aug. 2022
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This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.—
Rob Nixon,
Smithsonian,
23 Mar. 2018
Noun
-
The interesting thing here is taking that analogy to the bitter lesson.—
John Werner,
Forbes.com,
3 Aug. 2025
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That’s as far as the analogy goes, though film fans can easily guess who is Mr. Potter in this scenario.—
Rance Collins,
IndieWire,
26 July 2025
Noun
-
What’s the difference between a simile and a metaphor?—
Vibhas Ratanjee,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
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No metaphors or similes or hyperbolic language needed here – your kids are next.—
Rob Gagnon,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
This phrase has spun into a corporate euphemism, often one in which the motive is already pre-drawn: conversion.—
Aditya Vikram Kashyap,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
-
And now Netanyahu announces a military takeover of Gaza City… which most informed commentators understand as a euphemism for the colonization of Gaza.—
Walden Green,
Pitchfork,
10 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Alaska, purchased from Russia 158 years ago for $7.2 million, was supposed to be a clever metaphor for American strength.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
16 Aug. 2025
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Pro-Kremlin voices praised the gesture as political trolling, with some likening the meal to a metaphor for Russia's stance on Ukraine.—
Hannah Parry
Amanda Castro
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Aug. 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
Cite this Entry
“Code word.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/code%20word. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
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