Meanings
nounmixed metaphor (plural mixed metaphors)
plural mixed metaphors
- human sciencesAn overreaching, contradictory or incongruous combination of two distinct metaphors, similes or idioms.
This is just what the world sounds like now. This is how everything has chosen to speak. Mixed metaphors and empty sincerity.
2025 December 3, Sam Kriss, “Why Does A.I. Write Like … That?”, in The New York Times Magazine, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Dec 2025
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 混合隱喻 /混合隐喻
- 混合隱喻 /混合隐喻Translations
Finnish ontuva vertausten yhdistelmä, ontuva vertaus
- ontuva vertausten yhdistelmäTranslations
- ontuva vertausTranslations
French métaphore mixte
- métaphore mixteTranslations
German verknüpfte Metaphern, schiefes Bild
- verknüpfte MetaphernTranslations
- schiefes BildTranslations
Polish mieszana metafora
- mieszana metaforaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA
mixed metaphor. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mixed%20metaphor
MLA
“mixed metaphor.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mixed%20metaphor. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mixed metaphor,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mixed%20metaphor.
Source: mixed metaphor on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.