as in dead metaphor
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Recent Examples of code word
The animation in the video draws one’s consciousness in like a vortex, and the three sweets that make up the name are suggestive of some sort of code word.
—
Billboard Japan, Billboard, 16 June 2025
That is the administration’s code word for both climate programs and ones seeking to encourage diversity, equity and inclusion.
—Natalie Proulx, New York Times, 20 May 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for code word
Billboard Japan, Billboard, 16 June 2025
That is the administration’s code word for both climate programs and ones seeking to encourage diversity, equity and inclusion.
—Natalie Proulx, New York Times, 20 May 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for code word
Recent Examples of Synonyms for code word
Noun
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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
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This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.—
Rob Nixon,
Smithsonian,
23 Mar. 2018
Noun
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Going back to the novel-shredding analogy, imagine trying to reassemble the book after it was shredded into pieces only 1 centimeter square rather than 5.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
2 Oct. 2025
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To be clear, this is only an analogy and shouldn’t be taken too far.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Consider, for instance, the use of rhetorical figures such as metaphor or simile.—
Nino Letteriello,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 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
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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
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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
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And while the film’s metaphor seems to indicate that Jesse’s burgeoning sexuality is something to fear, the ridiculousness of the dialogue and Patton’s shrieking performance make this a perverse camp classic.—
Samantha Allen,
Them.,
7 Oct. 2025
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The sequence is pure spectacle, but amidst the heavy-handed metaphor, there's a timely commentary about the risks of relying on this type of technology at all.—
Elisabeth Sherman,
Parents,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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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 12 Oct. 2025.
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