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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This pressure included code words for acts Lovell wanted Jane Doe to perform.—
S.E. Jenkins,
CBS News,
11 Dec. 2025
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In the 21st century, however, historians mistook the code word for a code name and gave the pretexts their unhistorical handle.—
Ken Hughes,
The Conversation,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Everything else is a euphemism for old fashioned domination that the region has spent generations trying to escape.—
Boris Muñoz,
Time,
12 Jan. 2026
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In a year of cancellations and euphemisms, the city mounted a counterprogram that was quietly insurrectionary, stubbornly joyous.—
The Editors,
Curbed,
15 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Carrying this analogy a bit further, who should decide on the coach’s challenge.—
Harvey Levine,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 Jan. 2026
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James looked to the ceiling, rubbed his face and settled on an analogy.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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This concept is brought to life by the characters’ perilous physical and psychological journey, constantly suspended between destruction and renewal, reality and metaphor.—
Robert Lang,
Deadline,
7 Jan. 2026
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With relentless howling wind making up much of the soundtrack, The Turin Horse was a chilling, enigmatic stunner that played like a metaphor for the apocalypse.—
Tim Grierson,
Rolling Stone,
6 Jan. 2026
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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Want to read whole stanzas, even poems, constructed simile by simile?—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dead metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dead%20metaphor. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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