proverbial
adjective
Simple meaning
Of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, cliché, fable, or fairy tale.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pruhvurbeeuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
pɹəˈvɝbiəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, cliché, fable, or fairy tale.
Widely known; famous; stereotypical.
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.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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.
Used this way, proverbial is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use proverbial
- “He kicked the proverbial bucket.”adjective
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Resembling
Other combinations
Tap the highlighted word to open its own entry.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “proverbial” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.