mixed metaphor

noun

: a figure of speech combining inconsistent or incongruous metaphors

Examples of mixed metaphor in a Sentence

“If we want to get ahead we'll have to iron out the remaining bottlenecks” is an example of a mixed metaphor.

Recent Examples on the Web

Cats, however, may turn out to be the canaries in the coalmines — pardon the mixed metaphor. —Jan Ellen Spiegel, Hartford Courant, 24 Dec. 2024

Yeah, that's probably a mixed metaphor, or actually a simile. —Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 21 Jan. 2011

Fair warning: What follows is a mixed metaphor palooza. —Keith Kloor, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2013

The triple-mixed metaphor says it all: Licht & Co. are struggling with the intractable problem of how to square the CNN brand’s promise — straight news — with the entertainment imperatives of nighttime television. —Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2022

Excuse the mixed metaphor, but the Viper feels like a great white shark on the road. —WSJ, 3 Dec. 2022

Yes, a mixed metaphor, but that essentially is what has been in play to this stage. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2022

Those smoldering embers of shortcomings, now and particularly in the postseason, always hover — a mixed metaphor, admittedly — over some and consistently haunt others. —Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Jan. 2022

Eye strain, like neck, back, or wrist strain, is nothing to be sneezed at, to use a very mixed metaphor. —Maria Shine Stewart, cleveland, 28 Sep. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1748, in the meaning defined above