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Definitions
Trivia Time
Which of the following is an example of a metaphor?

metaphor

[met-uh-fawr, -fer] / ˈmɛt əˌfɔr, -fər /
NOUN
figure of speech, implied comparison
Synonyms
Antonyms
WEAK
plain speech


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The somatic metaphor has seized the punditry—the AI industry is tumbling forward uncontrollably at the hands of its private leaders.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The New Zealand landscape does echo the rolling hills of Central California, in a dry season, but it’s a dreary vision, hardly the paradise of Steinbeck’s memory, book or metaphor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Hansen uses this as a metaphor for the “To Catch a Predator” conceit.

From Salon ● Sep. 26, 2026

The royals are depicted as the type of children who come round, break your toys and then disappear, in what might be an extended metaphor for how he saw Diana's story.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Lead them around by the nose; that is a metaphor.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

"The proliferation of those struck me," Vara told Front Row, adding that the story also had a lot of metaphors, also prevalent in writing generated by AI.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

“The Whale” is subtler on stage than it is on screen; its metaphors work better in the theater’s buoyant atmosphere for which they were conceived.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

And I wasn’t entirely thrilled with “Backrooms” getting lost in the maze of its metaphors, either.

From Salon ● Aug. 24, 2026

Ads feature Leon guiding chief executives across mountains and rivers that double as metaphors for the risks posed by AI.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Some people are so wild about metaphors that they can’t resist using them in pairs.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner


Vocabulary lists containing metaphor

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