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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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Halbreich told me that prominent art institutions are already using code words, like community, to talk about diversity.—
Rachel Corbett,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2025
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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
Noun
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The claim that euphemisms for death are somehow unique to Vietnamese culture is absurd in the extreme.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
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Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco have long received EU funds to ‘manage migration’ (a euphemism for preventing people from leaving their territories, often by force).—
Frey Lindsay,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Psychological inoculation uses a vaccine analogy where exposing people to a weakened dose of the techniques used to produce falsehoods—and deconstructing and refuting them in advance—can help cultivate greater cognitive immunity to future misinformation.—
Sander van der Linden,
Time,
6 May 2025
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Driving a Lamborghini through Manhattan at 18 miles an hour in traffic is a waste… or insert your own analogy here.—
Adrian Bridgwater,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
Noun
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Without that essential kernel of referentiality, there can be no metaphor at all.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
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As for Bayern, today’s result against RB Leipzig was a good metaphor for the Rekordmeister’s season.—
Manuel Veth,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
Noun
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No metaphors or similes or hyperbolic language needed here – your kids are next.—
Rob Gagnon,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2025
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Her father was a scientist and worked for NASA, so her work, including The Body’s Question and Life on Mars, is infused with the cosmos and space and all these metaphors and similes tied to the most mysterious places in the universe.—
Lisa Wong Macabasco,
Vogue,
22 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dead metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dead%20metaphor. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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