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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Was there literally a code word?—
Benjamin Siegel,
ABC News,
21 Oct. 2025
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Hughes went on to note the use of code words, particularly in a tactical environment.—
Dan Sheldon,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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Opinions were filtered through euphemism.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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In that analogy, Freeman already was the Stafford of this search.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
7 Jan. 2026
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The coincidence has invited an avalanche of historical analogies.—
Cristina Guevara,
Chicago Tribune,
7 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 10 Jan. 2026.
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