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allegory Definition

al·le·gory (alə gôr′ē)

noun pl. -·ries

  1. a story in which people, things, and happenings have a hidden or symbolic meaning: allegories are used for teaching or explaining ideas, moral principles, etc.
  2. the presenting of ideas by means of such stories
  3. any symbol or emblem

Etymology: ME allegorie < L allegoria < Gr allēgoria, description of one thing under the image of another < allos, other (see else) + agoreuein, to speak in assembly < agora, agora

allegory Synonyms

allegory

n.

moral story, allegorical representation, parable, fable; see story.

allegory Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • write: Why, then, would a Puritan like Bunyan write allegory at all?
  • become: The three stories are closely interwoven, and the story of Chess becomes an allegory to link them all.
  • use: Orwell's review contains a clear and early form of the allegory used in Animal Farm.
  • make: Were we disposed to make the allegory of the eighth day, theirs would not be the proper mode of it.
  • call: All this appears in the ritual in the form of a story or fable, called an allegory.
  • depict: The Colnaghi picture depicts an allegory of sin and redemption.

Adjective modifier

  • Manichean: Who loved children manichean allegory the world series of has to sell.
  • Christian: There is no need for anyone to get into a PC huff about its Christian allegory.
  • religious: Most of Dix's post-war paintings were religious allegories.
  • political: But then there's ' Animal Farm ' , perhaps the best known political allegory ever written.
  • historical: The film succeeds not only in terms of action and suspense but as cautionary fable, historical allegory, social satire and moral disquisition.
  • great: The arresting cover is a wraparound of Gilbert and George's great panoramic allegory of 1983, Drunk with God.

Noun used with modifier

century: The Concorde project - a 20th century allegory For a quarter of a century Concorde provided the only regular supersonic travel.

Preposition: of

  • life: He imagines the dentist chair as an allegory of life itself so he needs stick it out.
  • cave: The allegory of the cave is supposed to explain this.
  • society: These films are often subtle allegories of the totalitarian society and functioned as a subversive voice within state-controlled production.
  • history: What follows is an allegory of a dangerous political history of the first half of the twentieth century.
  • world: I believe the Village being an allegory of the world at the time of filming also sought a strong leader.

Preposition: for

life: Q. To that extent, are his experiences an allegory for life?