dead metaphor

noun

Definition of dead metaphornext
as in code word

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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 dead metaphor 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dead metaphor
  1. code word
  2. euphemism
  3. analogy
  4. metaphor
  5. simile
Noun
  • According to the Daily Mail, Baldoni and Swift actually communicated after the end of his dispute with Lively, and the two now share a code word when talking about the issue.
    — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 13 July 2026
  • If someone claims there is an accident, arrest, hospital bill or urgent money problem, the code word gives your family a fast way to know whether the call is real.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 13 July 2026
Definition of code word
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
  • 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
  • That was a cool metaphor of wanting each one of them to shatter a glass ceiling of sorts.
    — Max Gao, Variety, 19 Aug. 2026
  • No need to get bogged down in questions about provenance, artfulness, long-form storytelling, or even metaphors.
    — Robin Givhan, Vanity Fair, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of metaphor
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

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deadly
dead metaphor
dead metaphors
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Cite this Entry

“Dead metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dead%20metaphor. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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