metaphor
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
a way of describing something by saying it is something else to show they share a quality.
a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison.
Simple“The teacher used the metaphor of a 'rollercoaster' to describe the character's emotions.”
In context“The author employs the metaphor of a decaying garden to represent the moral decline of the family over several generations.”
PitfallThe poet used a metaphor like a rose. The poet used a metaphor: 'the world is a rose'.A metaphor states that something IS something else; if you use 'like' or 'as', it is a simile, not a metaphor.
SynonymsAntonymsliteralism - 02 C1 Advanced
the use of familiar objects to represent digital tasks, like using a 'folder' icon for files.
the application of a conceptual framework from the physical world to a digital interface to improve user intuition.
Simple“The 'desktop' metaphor makes it easy for new users to understand how to organize their computer files.”
In context“Early operating systems relied heavily on the office metaphor, using icons for trash cans, folders, and filing cabinets to guide user interaction.”
Synonyms
“It’s been stalled on Steam early access for years and has probably been abandoned, which I feel is a nice metaphor for this whole sub-genre.”
“It is true, as the Ukrainian poet Halyna Kruk said in 2022, that “no metaphors work against a man with a machine gun … no poetry can save you from a tank”.”
From Middle French métaphore, from Latin metaphora, from Ancient Greek μεταφορά (metaphorá), from μεταφέρω (metaphérō, “I transfer, apply”), from μετά (metá, “with, across, after”) + φέρω (phérō, “I bear, carry”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.