as in code word
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Recent Examples of dead metaphor
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
This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.
—Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 1 Aug. 2022
This shift reminds us that dead metaphors aren’t always terminally dead.
—Rob Nixon, Smithsonian, 23 Mar. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dead metaphor
Noun
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Savannah Guthrie seemingly used a code word in a video directed toward her missing mother Nancy Guthrie’s kidnappers, a former FBI agent claims.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
9 Feb. 2026
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Have a safety plan and a family code word.—
Amelia Mugavero,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Now there were no euphemisms for Germany’s leader.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Feb. 2026
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Early critics have called it ‘compassionate,’ which might sound like a euphemism for treacly or didactic.—
Savannah Salazar,
Vulture,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Her lyrics declared independence from clingy lovers and assorted social expectations, often through analogies inspired by technology.—
Spencer Kornhaber,
The Atlantic,
11 Mar. 2026
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Once again using the housing analogy, think of VPS hosting as your own apartment in a building, with utilities that other tenants can't use.—
Gabriel Zamora,
PC Magazine,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Privacy and authenticity are valuable assets for any artist to maintain, but Styles has never been a master of crafting a specific image, let alone a lyric that possesses a kind of crystal-clear metaphor or emotion.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
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The Salesman was a story about a woman attacked as a metaphor for a blindsided country, the director brilliantly re-appropriating the ultimate American drama Death of a Salesman to make the point.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
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Along with another allusion to his quip about Lucien’s death, that simile establishes the Anglo-Irish author as a terrifying counter-example of homosexual exposure.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dead metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dead%20metaphor. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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