Metaphor

/ˈmɛt.ə.foɹ/

Synonyms for "metaphor" (248 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (50)

Noun(9 words)
babylonbarabbasboston tea partybullfightingcaromingchaliceschaos theorychariotclassroom ecology model

Strong matches (74)

Adjective(6 words)
figurative conceptfigurative expressionfigurative termfigurative usegalician lagrimagrecian urn

Related words (124)

Adjective(4 words)
literary illustrationmetaphorical labelrapid societal collapseromanian instinct
Verb(2 words)
pierce the darknessslip into chaos

Choosing the right synonym

  • Closest matches in this entry: accordance, agent, agreement, alikeness, allegory.
  • Sentence evidence is available for metaphor, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
  • Ranking signals come from moby, derived_reverse, opengloss.

Synonym selection checklist

  • Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
  • Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
  • Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "metaphor".
  • Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "metaphor"

Keep "metaphor" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.

If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "metaphor" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.

Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "metaphor", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.

If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "metaphor" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

5 relation types

More general

8 entries
figurefigure of speechimagelinguistic devicerhetorical devicesignsymbolismtrope

More specific

6 entries
conceitdead metaphoremblemextended metaphoricontoken

Collocations

6 entries
dead metaphorextended metaphorlinguistic metaphormetaphor theorymetaphorical languagevisual metaphor

Inflections

1 entries

Derivations

4 entries

Translations

93 translations across 65 languages.

Powered by Wiktionary

Afrikaans

1 entries
  • metafoor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Albanian

1 entries
  • metaforë noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Ancient Greek

1 entries
  • μεταφορά noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Arabic

1 entries
  • اِسْتِعَارَة noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Armenian

2 entries
  • մետաֆոր noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • փոխաբերություն noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Azerbaijani

3 entries
  • istiarə noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • məcaz noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Belarusian

1 entries
  • мета́фара noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Bulgarian

1 entries
  • мета́фора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Burmese

1 entries
  • ရူပကအလင်္ကာ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Chinese Cantonese

1 entries
  • 比喻 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Chinese Mandarin

1 entries
  • 比喻 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Czech

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Danish

1 entries
  • metafor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Dutch

3 entries
  • beeldspraak noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafoor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • vergelijking noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Esperanto

1 entries
  • metaforo noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Estonian

1 entries
  • metafoor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Finnish

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

French

1 entries
  • métaphore noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Galician

1 entries
  • metáfora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Georgian

1 entries
  • მეტაფორა noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

German

1 entries
  • Metapher noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Greek

1 entries
  • μεταφορά noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Hebrew

1 entries
  • מֶטָפוֹרָה noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Hindi

1 entries
  • रूपक noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Hungarian

2 entries
  • hasonlóságon alapuló névátvitel noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Icelandic

2 entries
  • myndhverfing noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • myndlíking noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Indonesian

3 entries
  • kiasan noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • majas noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Irish

1 entries
  • meafar noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Italian

3 entries
  • figura retorica noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • tropo noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Japanese

4 entries
  • メタファー noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • 暗喩 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • 比喩 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • 隠喩 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Kannada

1 entries
  • ರೂಪಕ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Kazakh

1 entries
  • метафора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Khmer

1 entries
  • ធម្មារម្មណ៍ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Korean

3 entries
  • 비유 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • 암유 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • 은유 noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Kyrgyz

1 entries
  • метафора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Lao

2 entries
  • ຄຳອຸບປະມາ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • ຄໍາອຸປະມາ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Latvian

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Lithuanian

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Macedonian

1 entries
  • мета́фора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Malay

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Mongolian

1 entries
  • зүйрлэл noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Māori

2 entries
  • huahuatau noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • kupu whakarite noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Norwegian Bokmål

1 entries
  • metafor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Norwegian Nynorsk

1 entries
  • metafor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Persian

2 entries
  • استعاره noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • مجاز noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Polish

2 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • przenośnia noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Portuguese

1 entries
  • metáfora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Romanian

1 entries
  • metaforă noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Russian

1 entries
  • мета́фора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Serbo-Croatian

2 entries
  • metàfora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • мета̀фора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Slovak

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Slovene

1 entries
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Spanish

1 entries
  • metáfora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Swedish

1 entries
  • metafor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Tagalog

1 entries
  • metapora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Tajik

2 entries
  • истиора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • маҷоз noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Tatar

1 entries
  • метафора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Thai

3 entries
  • อุปมา noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • อุปลักษณ์ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • อุปไมย noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Turkish

3 entries
  • istiare noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • mecaz noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafor noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Ukrainian

1 entries
  • мета́фора noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Urdu

1 entries
  • استعارہ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Uzbek

3 entries
  • istiora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • majoz noun (uncountable: figure of speech)
  • metafora noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Vietnamese

1 entries
  • ẩn dụ noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Welsh

1 entries
  • trosiad noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Yiddish

1 entries
  • מעטאַפֿאָר noun (uncountable: figure of speech)

Sample sentences

16 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

"He's a tiger when he's angry" is an example of metaphor.

Source: tatoeba (73590)

It's apparently a metaphor for something uncatchable, light of body and fleet of foot.

Source: tatoeba (402421)

"A fish out of water" is a metaphor for being unable to use your talents due to a change of environment.

Source: tatoeba (426495)

To the ancient Yogis, the body was seen as a vehicle for the soul, and this is a useful metaphor in the modern context.

Source: tatoeba (530823)

Showing 4 of 16 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "metaphor"?

Closest matches include accordance, agent, agreement, alikeness, allegory.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "metaphor"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "metaphor"

Meaning

Keep exploring

Read the definitionBrowse writing guidesRead the blog