proverbial

CEFRC1

/pɹəˈvɜɹb.iː.əl/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

01
adjective
Often mentioned in a well-known saying or expression.
02
adjective
Extra detail
Optionally placed before an element of a well-known proverb or metaphor to emphasize that the element is not being used in a literal sense (see Usage notes below)

Examples

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Deep Dive

Extra meanings

Extra meaning

Used to replace a word that might be considered unacceptable in a particular situation, when using a well-known phrase.

In context

Doris: You're making me feel like the proverbial stepmother.
The beaver in this instance upheld the reputation of the proverbial one: her output was prodigious.
The busyness of a beaver is proverbial.

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Question 1 · Quick check

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Mr. Obama has presented himself as a fresh face, unsteeped in Washington and the proverbial “politics as usual.”
2007 May 17, Mark Leibovich, “For ’08 Résumés, Don’t Ask Them to Fill in Blanks”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2021
“We don’t like it, it’s the proverbial ‘crap sandwich’ that they talk about but what’s the best move from here and we think it’s the way to go,” said Rep. Mark Walker, chairman of the large group of fiscal conservatives known as the Republican Study Committee. […] “I think there is a growing consensus, whether it’s February or sometime, that we don’t want to be on this proverbial hamster wheel,” he said.
2018 January 17, Deidre Walsh, quoting Mark Walker, “Republican Study Committee Chairman supports ‘crap sandwich’ funding bill”, in CNN

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From Latin prōverbiālis, equivalent to proverb + -ial