metaphor

[met-uh-fawr, -fer]

noun

1. a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”

2. something used, or regarded as being used, to represent something else; emblem; symbol.

metaphor

/ -ˌfɔː, ˌmɛtəˈfɒrɪk, ˈmɛtəfə /

noun

1. a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action that it does not literally denote in order to imply a resemblance, for example he is a lion in battle Compare simile

metaphor

1. The comparison of one thing to another without the use of like or as: “A man is but a weak reed”; “The road was a ribbon of moonlight.” Metaphors are common in literature and expansive speech. (Compare simile.)

Other Word Forms

• metaphoric adjective
• metaphorically adverb
• metaphoricalness noun
• metaphorical adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of metaphor¹

First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin metaphora, from Greek metaphorá “a transfer,” akin to metaphérein “to transfer”; meta-, -phore

Word History and Origins

Origin of metaphor¹

C16: from Latin, from Greek metaphora, from metapherein to transfer, from _meta- + pherein to bear

Example Sentences

In “Last Rites,” the thematic metaphor for seeing is the mirror itself, suggesting that we need to look at the darkest, most terrifying parts of ourselves and not shut them out.

From Los Angeles Times

We’d better start by stating that the metaphor involving boiling a frog by gradually increasing the temperature of the water is a myth.

From Salon

Inspired by the venomous novel by Warren Adler, both films are metaphors for building a home and then tearing it down, although the chandelier this time is merely incidental.

From Los Angeles Times

Not many of us had “Jeffrey Epstein” or “Ghislaine Maxwell” on our bingo cards — to mix metaphors while gilding the lily.

From Salon

The campaign hasn’t even started and already those metaphors have grown stale.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• analogy 
• image 
• symbol