Cliche vs. Metaphor — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Cliche and Metaphor
ADVERTISEMENT
Compare with Definitions
Cliche
A trite or overused expression or idea
"Even while the phrase was degenerating to cliché in ordinary public use ... scholars were giving it increasing attention" (Anthony Brandt).
Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas.
Cliche
A person or character whose behavior is predictable or superficial
"There is a young explorer ... who turns out not to be quite the cliche expected" (John Crowley).
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable
Her poetry depends on suggestion and metaphor
When we speak of gene maps and gene mapping, we use a cartographic metaphor
Cliche
Usage Problem Clichéd.
ADVERTISEMENT
Metaphor
A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in "a sea of troubles" or "All the world's a stage" (Shakespeare).
Cliche
Alternative form of cliché
Metaphor
One thing conceived as representing another; a symbol
"Hollywood has always been an irresistible, prefabricated metaphor for the crass, the materialistic, the shallow, and the craven" (Neal Gabler).
Cliche
Alternative form of cliché
Metaphor
The use of a word or phrase to refer to something other than its literal meaning, invoking an implicit similarity between the thing described and what is denoted by the word or phrase.
Cliche
A stereotype plate or any similar reproduction of ornament, or lettering, in relief.
Metaphor
A word or phrase used in such implied comparison.
Cliche
A trite or obvious remark.
Metaphor
The use of an everyday object or concept to represent an underlying facet of the computer and thus aid users in performing tasks.
Desktop metaphor; wastebasket metaphor
Cliche
A trite or obvious remark
Metaphor
(intransitive) To use a metaphor.
Metaphor
(transitive) To describe by means of a metaphor.
Metaphor
The transference of the relation between one set of objects to another set for the purpose of brief explanation; a compressed simile; e. g., the ship plows the sea.
Metaphor
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 similarity
Share Your Discovery
Previous Comparison
Numerable vs. Enumerable
Next Comparison
Concurrently vs. Together
