as in analogy
an elaborate or fanciful way of expressing something
"it's raining cats and dogs" is just a colorful metaphor and not a meteorological announcement
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Recent Examples of metaphor
Others hide in the cloud of metaphor, emerging only when everybody’s got their clothes back on.
—
Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
There’s almost nothing in the way of metaphor or trickery.
—Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 25 Feb. 2026
The script was assembled from real arguments between the couple, reframed as a cinematic metaphor for being trapped in a communicative spiral, as their characters’ attempts to reconnect devolve into murder.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Feb. 2026
There are metaphors aplenty to interpret in a thriller about a town that goes bonkers when 17 kids go missing in the middle of the night and everybody points to their teacher (Julia Garner).
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Lily Meyer, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
There’s almost nothing in the way of metaphor or trickery.
—Olivier Lafontant, Pitchfork, 25 Feb. 2026
The script was assembled from real arguments between the couple, reframed as a cinematic metaphor for being trapped in a communicative spiral, as their characters’ attempts to reconnect devolve into murder.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 24 Feb. 2026
There are metaphors aplenty to interpret in a thriller about a town that goes bonkers when 17 kids go missing in the middle of the night and everybody points to their teacher (Julia Garner).
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for metaphor
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphor
analogy
Noun
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For an analogy, look back on the introduction of search engines, which led to a massive cut in the time needed to do research and get answers.—
Peter Cappelli,
Fortune,
28 Feb. 2026
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Arteta has used the analogy that the positional grouping of injuries is like ‘buying tickets’ for more fitness problems down the line, an image that has proven to be apt across almost every area of his squad.—
Art de Roché,
New York Times,
28 Feb. 2026
Video
When Body Parts Are Also Verbs
Head, shoulders, metaphors, and toes
Cite this Entry
“Metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/metaphor. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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