as in analogies
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 metaphors
Postnature, then, demands a subjectivity that is plural and decenters the human; a postnatural ethics seeks to blur the boundaries between human and nature, crafting new metaphors for the permeability and porousness of life-forms.
—
Catherine Taft, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Though the rope suggests tidy metaphors of unity, coherence, and formal integrity, a playful but insistent messiness effloresces in Simms’s entanglements, throwing any seeming wholeness into question.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
The latter, of course, gives better info, and the former gives fleeting metaphors and nearly faints from embarrassment.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 29 Jan. 2026
At their best, superhero stories can be potent metaphors for tangible human dilemmas.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 27 Jan. 2026
Ricks’s metaphors are perhaps too much like lightning, more about light than heat.
—Katie Kadue, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Though his metaphors are awfully on the nose, Chiarella convincingly insists on their power.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
The data was identical, but different metaphors produced completely different conclusions.
—Andy Molinsky, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
The Blind Owl is extremely dense, brimming with metaphors and ciphers and symbols.
—Amir Ahmadi Arian, The Dial, 15 Jan. 2026
Catherine Taft, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026
Though the rope suggests tidy metaphors of unity, coherence, and formal integrity, a playful but insistent messiness effloresces in Simms’s entanglements, throwing any seeming wholeness into question.
—Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2026
The latter, of course, gives better info, and the former gives fleeting metaphors and nearly faints from embarrassment.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 29 Jan. 2026
At their best, superhero stories can be potent metaphors for tangible human dilemmas.
—Nicholas Quah, Vulture, 27 Jan. 2026
Ricks’s metaphors are perhaps too much like lightning, more about light than heat.
—Katie Kadue, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
Though his metaphors are awfully on the nose, Chiarella convincingly insists on their power.
—Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 24 Jan. 2026
The data was identical, but different metaphors produced completely different conclusions.
—Andy Molinsky, Forbes.com, 20 Jan. 2026
The Blind Owl is extremely dense, brimming with metaphors and ciphers and symbols.
—Amir Ahmadi Arian, The Dial, 15 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphors
Noun
-
Eighth-generation master distiller Freddie Noe did not spare any football analogies when describing the whiskey and the collaborative process.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
15 Jan. 2026
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But the historical analogies have clear flaws.—
Morgan Marietta,
The Conversation,
15 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In September, a swarm of Russian drones flew into Poland's airspace, prompting NATO aircraft to scramble to intercept them and shoot down some of the devices.—
DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS,
Arkansas Online,
6 Feb. 2026
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The countries announced a framework for the agreement in November, saying Argentina would ease restrictions on a range of American imports, including cattle, dairy products, medicines, chemicals, machinery, medical devices and vehicles.—
Isabel Debre,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
There’s something about those ideas that are big, silly, cinematic, surreal conceits that drew me in.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
24 Nov. 2025
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But even her most impish conceits are undergirded by a fundamental conviction, a belief in the power of art to wake the dead.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
20 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Metaphors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/metaphors. Accessed 6 Feb. 2026.
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