variants
or metaphorical
as in figurative
expressing one thing in terms normally used for another
an author fond of such metaphorical phrases as "the desert was a fiery furnace"
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of metaphoric
Discovering literal and metaphorical sunshine on the West Coast, King Tuff broadened his palette with a pair of records built on the softer side of psych.
—
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 15 Apr. 2026
Wendy's wasn't Thomas' first flip of the metaphorical burger.
—Bob Vitale, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Passover is not about a historical event but about a metaphoric explication of an ideal.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
To his wife, Szilvi, the evening’s results had reaffirmed a truth less geographic than metaphoric.
—Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2026
His third-episode self-therapy session is a physical comedian’s dream come true, in which the three-time Emmy nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series triumphantly dusts off the (metaphorical) clown costume that was almost too convincing for the actor’s good.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026
In the United States, golden statuary is rare and usually metaphoric — the Oregon Pioneer, the Golden Driller, the Spirit of Communication.
—Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
Firms acted like the metaphorical kid in a candy store with talent, grabbing every shiny new candidate that crossed their applicant tracking system, with some, like Amazon, even doubling their headcount between 2019 and 2021.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
There is, however, another trait worth mentioning, one perhaps even more foundational to the literal and metaphorical heights of professional rock climbing.
—Namir Khaliq, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 15 Apr. 2026
Wendy's wasn't Thomas' first flip of the metaphorical burger.
—Bob Vitale, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026
Passover is not about a historical event but about a metaphoric explication of an ideal.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
To his wife, Szilvi, the evening’s results had reaffirmed a truth less geographic than metaphoric.
—Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 12 Apr. 2026
His third-episode self-therapy session is a physical comedian’s dream come true, in which the three-time Emmy nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series triumphantly dusts off the (metaphorical) clown costume that was almost too convincing for the actor’s good.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 10 Apr. 2026
In the United States, golden statuary is rare and usually metaphoric — the Oregon Pioneer, the Golden Driller, the Spirit of Communication.
—Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2026
Firms acted like the metaphorical kid in a candy store with talent, grabbing every shiny new candidate that crossed their applicant tracking system, with some, like Amazon, even doubling their headcount between 2019 and 2021.
—Jake Angelo, Fortune, 31 Mar. 2026
There is, however, another trait worth mentioning, one perhaps even more foundational to the literal and metaphorical heights of professional rock climbing.
—Namir Khaliq, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphoric
Adjective
-
Charleston, alongside Felix, writes in a Black diasporic tradition that uses the abstract and figurative to name, address, and illuminate the materiality of Black life in the wake of chattel slavery.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
7 Apr. 2026
-
The McCarthyist Red Scare recast the socially conscious and figurative art of the 1930s in the light of Soviet socialist realism.—
John P. Murphy,
ARTnews.com,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The number distilled the North Beach revue (which closed New Year’s Eve 2019) famous for its oversized figural hats, musical parodies and fairy-tale characters into 11.5 minutes.—
Culture Critic,
San Francisco Chronicle,
13 Mar. 2026
-
The holders come in a set of two, adorned with figural bunnies.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
11 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Several European countries sent just a few soldiers each to the massive island off the coast of Canada in a highly symbolic display of solidarity with Denmark.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Apr. 2026
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But what Danielson says was intended as a symbolic protest escalated dramatically amid paranoid fantasies, prosaic miscommunications, and the false report of a gun.—
Tessa Stuart,
Rolling Stone,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Metaphoric.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/metaphoric. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
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