metaphor
Americannoun
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Derived Forms
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Nouns
Etymology
Origin of metaphor
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin metaphora, from Greek metaphorá “a transfer,” akin to metaphérein “to transfer”; see meta-, -phore
Compare meaning
How does metaphor compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
If you brag that "the world's your oyster," you're using a metaphor from Shakespeare, who knew a thing or two about figures of speech. Good writers know their way around a metaphor, where you make an analogy between two things to show how one resembles the other in some way. When a character from Shakespeare calls the world his oyster, that's his boastful way of saying that all the riches of the world are his for the taking, like plucking a pearl from an oyster shell. Shakespeare also wrote, "All the world's a stage." Oyster? Stage? Come on, Will, get your metaphors straight!
Vocabulary lists containing metaphor
Some Helpful Poetry Terms
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Introductory
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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 story could act as a metaphor for the entire album.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
While she likely intended the lyric to be empowering, instead it feels more like a metaphor for her apparent physical fragility.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
I also am not losing any sleep over Pirro’s employment status, and I’ve always believed that the pool story is—as my colleague Christina Cauterucci explained—useful more as a metaphor than as a policy issue.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Soil was a metaphor for the growth we were incubating in our lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
“Or is a metaphor a definite category beneath the heading of ‘figure of speech’?”
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Mr. Graham-Dixon has written a fine guide to Vermeer’s territory, but without a sure theological map, there are no narrative shortcuts between Vermeer’s motives and his metaphors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Today there are more than 800–roughly the population of Tapanuli orangutans or wild Bactrian camels, but it’s too late to change metaphors.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
Perhaps you can see how the metaphors between the backrooms and the internet itself multiply from here: Like the backrooms, one can lose oneself forever in the internet.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2026
Arnold uses different metaphors to describe his feelings about what lies between him and brother.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
“Do you always speak in metaphors, Mister Brekker?”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
