proverbial
- adjective
- /prəˈvɜrbiəl/
- Initiatives such as the Common Core State Standards may be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
- become proverbial
- proverbial expression
- proverbial wisdom
These are the bosses who are often the proverbial golden goose.
- These are the bosses who are often the proverbial golden goose.
- And so you want to approach it with that proverbial grain of salt, don't you?
- The dark empath may very well be the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing.
- Yeah, the proverbial one hit wonders.
- That's another proverbial nail in this coffin.
- I had what a lot of people would be considered sort of a good life as living the proverbial American dream.
- It's like it's the proverbial trying to nail jello to a wall trying to understand theme.
- This is his proverbial leap into faith.
- I wish for people to get that sort of proverbial day in court.
- And OK, so it's it's the proverbial level plane.
Examples
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Saved by the proverbial bell.
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My ass is stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
Fiction book (2000) -
You mean like if you were the proverbial last man on Earth, Right.
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So I got one of those proverbial Washington phone calls.
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You can always put your key under the proverbial mat.
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Take that with the proverbial grain of salt.
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So the baby boomers are caught with the proverbial pants down.
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In many respects, we are like the proverbial blind men trying to reconstruct the elephant.
Academic text (1992) -
But such well-publicized cases are only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.
Academic text (1997) -
Many people rely on the proverbial wisdom of their grandparents when faced with difficult decisions.
Synonyms
Familiar to many people and often talked about
How Well-Known
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Proverbial comes from the word proverb, which is a short, well-known 'saying'. So, proverbial describes something very famous or often mentioned, like the 'proverbial' elephant in the room.