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
That really informed the story so much more than any other job, in terms of opening up the metaphors of film projection and damage inspection reports and how that might inform how Birdie kind of lives and thinks.
—
Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2026
Salazar-Thompson’s witty script — packed with hilarious metaphors and similes (like comparing a woman’s firm grip on her purse to that of a two-toed sloth on a branch) — make for a consistently amusing trip back in time.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
The lyrics string together repetitive and mostly generic metaphors comparing love to death and commitment to confinement.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 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
You’re surrounded by cartoon obstacles, fake pirates and a giant dinosaur — all metaphors that don’t require explanation.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 11 Feb. 2026
In the modern American workplace, the romantic metaphors are getting uncomfortably literal.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 11 Feb. 2026
Elon Musk has a habit of announcing the future in sweeping metaphors, then quietly changing course when reality intrudes.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 9 Feb. 2026
Malinin mastered the once-impossible 4½-rotation jump in just months using Arutyunyan’s signature coaching style of metaphors and biomechanics.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Emma Specter, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2026
Salazar-Thompson’s witty script — packed with hilarious metaphors and similes (like comparing a woman’s firm grip on her purse to that of a two-toed sloth on a branch) — make for a consistently amusing trip back in time.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Mar. 2026
The lyrics string together repetitive and mostly generic metaphors comparing love to death and commitment to confinement.
—Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 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
You’re surrounded by cartoon obstacles, fake pirates and a giant dinosaur — all metaphors that don’t require explanation.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 11 Feb. 2026
In the modern American workplace, the romantic metaphors are getting uncomfortably literal.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 11 Feb. 2026
Elon Musk has a habit of announcing the future in sweeping metaphors, then quietly changing course when reality intrudes.
—Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 9 Feb. 2026
Malinin mastered the once-impossible 4½-rotation jump in just months using Arutyunyan’s signature coaching style of metaphors and biomechanics.
—Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for metaphors
Noun
-
In the absence of hard data, the kind that become available years or decades after a war, the temptation is to reach for analogies or proverbial wisdom, or any of the other heuristic shortcuts that the psychologist Daniel Kahneman thoroughly described in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow.—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
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Esteemed writers fall back on lazy analogies and text like drunk high schoolers.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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New Jersey this year passed a law requiring licenses, registration and insurance for the devices following an uptick in e-bike deaths.—
Alissa Gary,
Sun Sentinel,
12 Mar. 2026
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When terror suspects’ names appear in headlines — particularly when fireworks or homemade devices are mentioned — Weimer said the response inside Phantom Fireworks is almost automatic.—
Greg Wehner,
FOXNews.com,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In those earlier pictures, metaphysical conceits became visual and dramatic gambits as the filmmakers set out to colonize the vast interior worlds of, respectively, the mind and the spirit.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
6 Mar. 2026
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One of Yellow Letters’s most interesting conceits is that German cities play Turkish ones throughout.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Metaphors.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/metaphors. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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