Dead metaphor
A dead metaphor is a common expression whose vivid image has faded from use. It happened because the phrase has been used so much, or because it refers to an old technology or forgotten habit. You can understand it without knowing its original image.
Dead metaphors form when a metaphor changes into a ordinary word through a process called literalization. Some come from sayings whose source few people remember (like “kick the bucket”), while others come from ideas that are familiar but not thought of as metaphor (like “falling in love”).
Over time, a metaphor can expand to cover more things. For example, the wings of a plane or the legs of a chair no longer feel like metaphors; the words have simply gained broader, nonmetaphorical uses.
There is debate about whether dead metaphors are still metaphors at all. Some scholars, like R. W. Gibbs, say a dead metaphor should lose its metaphorical power, though some figurative sense may still remain. Others, like Max Black, argue it is a different kind of linguistic item, not a metaphor. Still others, such as Colin Murray Turbayne and Kendall Walton, say that even after the imagery fades, dead metaphors can continue to influence thought and even become part of scientific and philosophical language, sometimes making thinking more confusing.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 06:48 (CET).