Home / Thesaurus / Frozen metaphor

Find the word that fits

Frozen metaphor: alternatives and connections

Begin with the reviewed alternatives, then explore broader connections without treating every related word as an automatic substitute.

How to use a thesaurus

1
Search your original wordStart with the word already in your sentence.
2
Choose the effect you needLook for a closer, stronger, softer, more formal or contrasting word.
3
Check the meaning and exampleDo not replace a word until the definition fits your exact sentence.

Search another word

Try an example: important law show help change happy

26,102 words currently have published synonym-style alternatives

90,593 searchable synonym connections

350,924 published thesaurus relationships of every type

Start with the meaning

Frozen metaphor

a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., ‘he is a snake’ may once have been a metaphor but after years of use it has died and become a new sense of the word ‘snake’)

View the full dictionary entry Compare this word with another →

42 useful connections shown 0 reviewed relationships and 42 broader connections.

Reviewed set in progress

No hand-reviewed synonym set has been published for this word yet.

The broader connections below can still help you explore, but they are labelled by the evidence joining the words and should not automatically be treated as substitutes.

Explore further

Words from the same subject

These terms belong to the same specialist field or topic. They help you explore the subject, but they are not automatically synonyms.

Dead metaphor noun · 86% connection

a metaphor that has occurred so often that it has become a new meaning of the expression (e.g., ‘he is a snake’ may once have been a m…

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins, Semantic change, Figurative language.

Definition Compare

Metalepsis noun · 86% connection

substituting metonymy of one figurative sense for another

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins, Semantic change.

Definition Compare

Metaphor noun · 86% connection

a figure of speech in which an expression is used to refer to something that it does not literally denote in order to suggest a simila…

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins, Semantic change, Figurative language.

Definition Compare

Metonymy noun · 86% connection

substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in ‘they counted heads’)

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins, Semantic change.

Definition Compare

Mixed metaphor noun · 86% connection

a combination of two or more metaphors that together produce a ridiculous effect

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins, Semantic change, Figurative language.

Definition Compare

Synesthetic metaphor noun · 86% connection

a metaphor that exploits a similarity between experiences in different sense modalities

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins, Semantic change, Figurative language.

Definition Compare

Conversion noun · 85% connection

interchange of subject and predicate of a proposition

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric, Word origins.

Definition Compare

Allocution noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) a formal or authoritative address that advises or exhorts

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Exordium noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) the introductory section of an oration or discourse

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Narration noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) the second section of an oration in which the facts are set forth

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Parenesis noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) exhortation; admonition.; "In Deuteronomy it is often impossible to separate parenesis from history."

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Peroration noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) the concluding section of an oration; "he summarized his main points in his peroration"

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Ploce noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) repetition to gain special emphasis or extend meaning

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Tapinosis noun · 78% connection

(rhetoric) A figure of speech whereby something is given less importance by the name given it than it merits.; "The last and perhaps t…

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Counterargument noun · 78% connection

an argument offered in opposition to another argument

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Rhetorical device noun · 78% connection

a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Rhetorical question noun · 78% connection

a statement that is formulated as a question but that is not supposed to be answered; "he liked to make his points with rhetorical que…

Used in the same subject area: Rhetoric, Literature and rhetoric.

Definition Compare

Amelioration noun · 78% connection

the act of relieving ills and changing for the better

Used in the same subject area: Word origins, Semantic change.

Definition Compare

Explore further

Words connected by meaning

Their definitions overlap or refer to similar ideas. Use these to widen your search, then compare the exact meanings.

Acontias noun · 78% connection

Anciently, a snake, called dart snake; now, one of a genus of reptiles closely allied to the lizards.