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Implied metaphor

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A metaphor suggested indirectly, without explicit comparison words like "like" or "as"

Detailed Definition
An implied metaphor is a figurative comparison suggested indirectly through context, action, or attribute rather than explicit “like” or “as”; for example, describing a person as “barking orders” implies they are a dog without stating the comparison outright, relying on reader inference.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Emily Dickinson’s “Hope is the thing with feathers,” hope is never called a bird but behaves like one; In Langston Hughes’s “A Dream Deferred,” the unspoken comparison of a dream to rotting meat is implied; In Sylvia Plath’s “Metaphors,” pregnancy is described as “a melon strolling on two tendrils” without stating the subject; In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” life choices are implied through paths in a wood.
Additional Notes
An implied metaphor suggests comparison without stating it directly (e.g., “He barked orders” implies “like a dog”); creates subtlety and invites reader participation—avoid vagueness by grounding in concrete context.
Also Known As
Suggested metaphor veiled comparison latent analogy understated simile Implicit comparison Related metaphor Unstated metaphor
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