synecdoche

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.

The situation was a perfect synecdoche for Hegseth’s self-inflicted Sispyphean task of trying to be a big man.

From Salon • Mar. 13, 2026

The near-perfect overlay of the religious image with a political image is a visual synecdoche for the Revolution’s replacement of Christianity with the cults of Nature and Reason.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025

In Mangold’s hands, parts become wholes and the exhibition a master class in synecdoche: the tree is the forest; the painter a human representative negotiating with the natural world.

From New York Times • Jun. 1, 2023

In Darlington’s Devon neighborhood, the synecdoche for global habitat destruction is the arrival of a sign in a soon-to-be-former farm field: “Site Acquired for Development.”

From Washington Post • Feb. 6, 2023

Capitolinus is metrically awkward; hence the synecdoche from the Tarpeia rupes, the part of the Capitoline from which criminals were hurled.

From The Last Poems of Ovid by Akrigg, Mark Bear