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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That is the administration’s code word for both climate programs and ones seeking to encourage diversity, equity and inclusion.—
Natalie Proulx,
New York Times,
20 May 2025
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Halbreich told me that prominent art institutions are already using code words, like community, to talk about diversity.—
Rachel Corbett,
Vulture,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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With his vocabulary and euphemisms clearly formed by his affinity for fantasy fiction and medieval tales of knights and kings, Connor strikes an indelible impression on the show.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
10 May 2025
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The claim that euphemisms for death are somehow unique to Vietnamese culture is absurd in the extreme.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
Noun
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When these optimization processes lead to outcomes that disregard human values or well-being in subtle yet significant ways, the analogy to psychopathic tendencies becomes less of a hyperbolic statement and more of a cautionary observation.—
Cornelia C. Walther,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2025
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So Penders goes for the colorful analogy, me for the random Hamlet references.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
19 May 2025
Noun
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In an era of horror mired in pathos and trauma metaphors, there’s a refreshing simplicity to movies that are just about finding new ways to turn people into goop.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
22 May 2025
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The prison was both a historical set piece and a metaphor — symbolizing his emotional confinement.—
Victoria Bousis,
Rolling Stone,
22 May 2025
Noun
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No metaphors or similes or hyperbolic language needed here – your kids are next.—
Rob Gagnon,
Hartford Courant,
25 Mar. 2025
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Her father was a scientist and worked for NASA, so her work, including The Body’s Question and Life on Mars, is infused with the cosmos and space and all these metaphors and similes tied to the most mysterious places in the universe.—
Lisa Wong Macabasco,
Vogue,
22 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Dead metaphor.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dead%20metaphor. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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