Thesaurus results for CODE WORD

code word

noun

Definition of code word

as in dead metaphor

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of code word To coordinate events in real time, the team used code words and hand signals. — Justin Ray, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2026 For our district, seniority has become a code word for stagnation. — Baltimore Sun Staff, Baltimore Sun, 20 May 2026 Sampson says her family now uses a code word. — Mike Winters, CNBC, 9 May 2026 But according to a report Wander, a luxury vacation rental company, shared with Travel +Leisure via email, there are also several unofficial phrases and code words that may be used in the air. — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 20 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for code word

Recent Examples of Synonyms for code word

Noun

The media are somewhat responsible, so apologies for beating a dead metaphor.

— Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2026
This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.

— Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018

Definition of dead metaphor

Noun

The usual analogy is that generative AI and LLMs are akin to a factory that pollutes local waters.

— Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2026
As an analogy, take the image of Greenland on a map centered at the North Pole and compare it with the image of the island on a Mercator projection.

— Aaron Shattuck, Scientific American, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of analogy

Noun

Isla’s mother, Chloe Howell, said the tween loves to crack jokes at home and came up with the funny simile herself.

— Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 1 Aug. 2026
An image may resonate with deeper meanings (that’s what great directors can bring about), but the compression and displacement that make the simile devastating on the page have no cinematic equivalent.

— David Denby, New Yorker, 21 June 2026

Definition of simile

Noun

This is nothing more than a euphemism for encouraging less citizen input and involvement in determining city policies and spending priorities.

— Joseph Landers, Baltimore Sun, 6 Aug. 2026
Sam Roberts, a longtime obituarist for the New York Times, wants to banish the euphemisms that attend death.

— Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of euphemism

Noun

But in terms of its actual content, the statement was pretty thin gruel, bristling with public relations-style circumlocution and vagueness.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2026
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

Definition of circumlocution

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codevelopers

code word

code words

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“Code word.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/code%20word. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of code word

noun

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