as in dead metaphor
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Recent Examples of code word
Have a safety plan and a family code word.
—
Amelia Mugavero, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
But electability is neither a code word for, nor tantamount to, white-male-ness.
—Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
Was there literally a code word?
—Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 21 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
See All Example Sentences for code word
Amelia Mugavero, CBS News, 6 Feb. 2026
But electability is neither a code word for, nor tantamount to, white-male-ness.
—Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
Was there literally a code word?
—Benjamin Siegel, ABC News, 21 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
See All Example Sentences for code word
Recent Examples of Synonyms for code word
Noun
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The media are somewhat responsible, so apologies for beating a dead metaphor.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
7 May 2026
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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
Noun
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Related Stories Jon Stewart then extended the analogy.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
10 June 2026
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The analogy appears to reference the leverage the 49ers hold over Aiyuk.—
Sean Campbell,
Sacbee.com,
9 June 2026
Noun
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Dryden’s famous simile, from La Fontaine’s own century, likens a translator who copies too closely to a man dancing on ropes with fettered legs: careful, precise, but never graceful.—
Jan Steyn,
The Dial,
10 Mar. 2026
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Salazar-Thompson’s witty script — packed with hilarious metaphors and similes (like comparing a woman’s firm grip on her purse to that of a two-toed sloth on a branch) — make for a consistently amusing trip back in time.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
9 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The Execution Crisis Defined Rasmus Holst, CEO of Zensai, describes it without euphemism.—
Connie Etemadi,
USA Today,
9 June 2026
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Willmett and Harris are clearly uninterested in euphemisms, so there’s an exaggerated naivety to their lyrics.—
Alex Robert Ross,
Pitchfork,
8 June 2026
Noun
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The harvest field is a metaphor in the Bible which speaks to people’s openness to the Gospel.—
Michael Luo,
New Yorker,
14 June 2026
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This metaphor also suggests that the fat body is not valid, but instead is the lingering residue of a problem that needs to be solved.—
Virgie Tovar,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
Noun
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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
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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 15 Jun. 2026.
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