A metaphor is a word or phrase that is used to make a comparison between two things. They can be very useful, and we use them all the time in daily conversation, and we do not even realize it! Let’s look at a few examples with a list of metaphors in various situations:
Examples of Metaphors for Love
- Love is a nutrient
- Love is a journey
- Love is a fluid in a container
- Love is fire
- Love is an economic exchange
- Love is a natural force
- Love is a physical force
- Love is a captive animal
- Love is war
- Love is a social superior
- Love is rapture
- Love is a thrill ride
- Love is a fine wine
- Love is a garden
- Love is a battlefield
- Love is an experiment
- Love is a fragile flower opening to the warmth of spring
- Love is a lemon – either bitter or sweet
Examples of Metaphor from Famous People
- “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Pablo Picasso
- “Conscience is a man’s compass.” – Vincent Van Gogh
- “Chaos is a friend of mine.” – Bob Dylan
- “All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.” – Albert Einstein
Examples of Common Metaphors
| Anger bottled up inside | He was a Lion on the battlefield | Scapegoat |
| A shot across the bows | High and dry | Sea of bees |
| An endless night | His eye on the Sparrow | Sea of fire |
| Apple of my eye | Home was prison | Sea of ghosts |
| Batten down the hatches | Homework is a breeze | Sea of knowledge |
| Battle of egos | House of cards | Sea of love |
| Belling the cat | Hungry ghost | Sea of sadness |
| Belt was a snake | Ideas are water | Sea of smiles |
| Better half | Ideas are wings | Sea of sorrows |
| Birds of a feather flock together | Ideas in motion | Sea of umbrellas |
| Blanket of air | Infinite crisis | Sea of uncertainty |
| Blanket of bullets | Infinite spectrum of possibilities | Shades of excellence |
| Blanket of clouds | Intimate relationship | Shades of hope |
| Blanket of exemption | Jumping the shark | Shake a leg |
| Blanket of flowers | Know the ropes | Shaking the dust from the feet |
| Blanket of ghosts | Law of the horse | She felt her gorge rising |
| Blanket of hope | Legs were wax | Shipshape and Bristol fashion |
| Blanket of indifference | Life is a journey | Shiver my timbers |
| Blanket of insurance | Life is a mere dream | Shooting the messenger |
| Blanket of love | Light of my life | Shot down an idea |
| Blanket of roses | Loose cannon | Silken lies |
| Blanket of secrecy | Love is a battlefield | Simmer down! |
| Blanket of snow | Love is a bond | Slippery slope |
| Blanket of stars | Love is a camera, full of memories | Smell of death |
| Blow one’s trumpet | Love is a fine wine | Smell of fear |
| Boiling frog | Love is a garden | Smell of rain |
| Boiling mad | Love is a growing garland | Smoking gun |
| Broken heart | Love is a journey | Snake oil |
| Butterfly economics | Love is a thrill ride | Social organizations are plants |
| Cabin fever | Love is an experiment | Spherical cow |
| Camel’s nose | Love is an ocean | Stable economy |
| Choices are crossroads | Melting pot | Stable marriage problem |
| Close quarters | Moral compass | Standing on the shoulders of giants |
| Cloudy memory | Necessity is the mother of invention | Sticky wicket |
| Cold feet | Night was falling | Storm of swords |
| Consumed by love | Night owl | Strength and dignity are her clothing |
| Copper-bottomed | Noisy neighbors | Stubborn stains |
| Cotton candy words | Noisy stomach | Sweet dreams |
| Couch potato | On your beam ends | Sweet smell of success |
| Crop of students | Panic stations | Tell it to the marines |
| Deep dark secret | Path of exile | The bitter end |
| Disaster area | Path of glory | The cut of your jib |
| Domino effect | Peace of mind | The evening of one’s life |
| Early bird | Plain sailing | The sea bit my ankles |
| Eyes were fireflies | Point of no return | Their ideas are difficult to swallow |
| Eyes were saucers | Profits fell last year | Thoughts are a storm, unexpected |
| Flogging a dead horse | Puppet government | Three sheets to the wind |
| Food for thought | Push the boat out | Tiger Cub Economies |
| Fork in the road | Rainbow of challenges | Time a thief |
| Full to the gunwales | Rainbow of flavors | Turkeys voting for Christmas |
| Give a wide berth | Rainbow of hope | Walk the plank |
| Go by the board | Rainbow of love | Wave of donations |
| Hand over fist | Raining cats and dogs | Wheels of justice |
| Hard and fast | Reality an enemy | Work has dried up |
| He got all steamed up | Rug Rats |
Examples of Popular Metaphors
- “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” – William Shakespeare
- “I am the good shepherd…and I lay down my life for the sheep.” – The Bible, John 10:14-15
- “All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind.” – Khalil Gibran
- “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust
- “And your very flesh shall be a great poem.” – Walt Whitman
- “Advertising is the rattling of a stick inside a swill bucket.” – George Orwell
- “Dying is a wild night and a new road.” – Emily Dickinson
- “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” – William Wordsworth