metaphor

[ met-uh-fawr, -fer ]

/ ˈmɛt əˌfɔr, -fər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR metaphor ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.”Compare mixed metaphor, simile(def 1).

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

Words nearby metaphor

metapelet, metaph., metaphase, metaphase plate, metaphen, metaphor, metaphosphate, metaphosphoric acid, metaphrase, metaphrast, metaphys.

Origin of metaphor

1525–35; < Latin metaphora < Greek metaphorá a transfer, akin to metaphérein to transfer. See meta-, -phore

OTHER WORDS FROM metaphor

met·a·phor·i·cal

[met-uh-fawr-i-kuh l, -for-] /ˌmɛt əˈfɔr ɪ kəl, -ˈfɒr-/, met·a·phor·ic, adjectivemet·a·phor·i·cal·ly, adverbmet·a·phor·i·cal·ness, nounhy·per·met·a·phor·ic, adjective

hy·per·met·a·phor·i·cal, adjectivenon·met·a·phor·ic, adjectivenon·met·a·phor·i·cal, adjectivenon·met·a·phor·i·cal·ly, adverbsem·i·met·a·phor·ic, adjectivesem·i·met·a·phor·i·cal, adjectivesem·i·met·a·phor·i·cal·ly, adverbsub·met·a·phor·ic, adjectivesub·met·a·phor·i·cal, adjectivesub·met·a·phor·i·cal·ly, adverb

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH metaphor

metaphor simile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for metaphorical

The metaphorical closet door has been opened, proving just how rapidly the sport is growing and changing with the times.
Miami’s Chris Bosh Goes High Fashion|Justin Jones|August 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I chose it for its metaphorical resonance, but the mosquito bite theory might be the worse.
Ron Rosenbaum on Hitler, Hollywood, and Quantifying Evil|William O’Connor|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Time passed, and periodically a scholarly blog would raise a metaphorical eyebrow about the lack of test results.
The ‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ is Still as Big a Mystery as Ever|Candida Moss|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Inevitably, any anger and resentment we feel is contained within some kind of metaphorical exoskeleton.
Seriously Gwyneth? WTF Is ‘Conscious Uncoupling’?|Tim Teeman|March 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Yet JFK, while physically frail and in pain, still had the metaphorical spine to drive his hawkish advisers up the wall.
JFK’s Weak Body And Strong Spirit|James Blight, Janet Lang|November 15, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Van was living on metaphorical clover down near Tucson; I was roughing it out on the rocks of the Mogollon.
Starlight Ranch|Charles King
Such a phrase as my body they considered to be metaphorical, as apart from the body there was no ego who owned it.
Hinduism And Buddhism, Volume II. (of 3)|Charles Eliot
What mark is given us, by which we may know where the boundary is between the literal and the metaphorical sense?
The Religion of Geology and Its Connected Sciences|Edward Hitchcock
This speech, Bob., thou wilt call a prettiness; but the allegory is just; and thou hast not quite cured me of the metaphorical.
Clarissa, Or The History Of A Young Lady, Volume 8|Samuel Richardson
It was no metaphorical, but an actual, wrestling with a tangible enemy.
The Life of John Bunyan|Edmund Venables

British Dictionary definitions for metaphorical

metaphor

/ (ˈmɛtəfə, -ˌfɔː) /

noun

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 battleCompare simile

Derived forms of metaphor

metaphoric (ˌmɛtəˈfɒrɪk) or metaphorical, adjectivemetaphorically, adverbmetaphoricalness, noun

Word Origin for metaphor

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Culture definitions for metaphorical

metaphor

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.)