catachresis

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for catachresis
Noun
  • Her father was a scientist and worked for NASA, so her work, including The Body’s Question and Life on Mars, is infused with the cosmos and space and all these metaphors and similes tied to the most mysterious places in the universe.
    Lisa Wong Macabasco, Vogue, 22 Feb. 2025
  • Fight analyst Dan Hardy used an interesting simile to explain the key difference between the two title fighters in Saturday night's main event at UFC 312 as middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis puts his title on the line against former champion Sean Strickland.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Finally, liquid bat guano and liquid earthworm castings (guano and castings are euphemisms for excrement) are also utilized for foliar fertilization.
    Joshua Siskin, Orange County Register, 14 Feb. 2025
  • When health officials confirm bird flu in a flock, the birds are culled — a euphemism for killed — in order to stop the spread of the virus.
    Bruce Gil, Quartz, 12 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Use simple analogies and relatable examples, and avoid jargon or complicated terms.
    Bernard Marr, Forbes, 18 Feb. 2025
  • Forgive one more analogy to music: Wagner has some of this power, too (in fact, a lot of it).
    Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 31 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Here, instead, she’s swayed by a dead Diana softly squeezing her hand and kindly hinting — the dead Diana is an ace at tactful circumlocution — that now is the time to show a mourning nation some emotion.
    Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 16 Nov. 2023
  • By condensing Balzac’s opus to a few paragraphs, Barthelme was having a laugh not just at his predecessor’s genteel circumlocution—his tendency to describe buildings and manufacturing procedures and family trees in lavish detail—but also at the conventions of novelistic mimesis itself.
    Giles Harvey, The New York Review of Books, 23 Apr. 2020
Noun
  • 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
Noun
  • Finally, the correct authenticator code word matched what was in my hands.
    Steve Koester, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
  • This isn’t the first time online communities have attempted to use phrases or code words to organize.
    CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 3 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • For Giedi Prime, septic tanks became the visual metaphor associated with the Hardonnen and their morals of a sewer.
    Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 17 Feb. 2025
  • Fueled by headlines, and theoretical metaphors attributed to the film ahead of release, there was an overwhelming desire to see Sam Wilson versus President Ross/Red Hulk serve as a direct allegory for liberal America’s fight against President Trump.
    Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Catachresis.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/catachresis. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

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