Advertisement
Advertisement
byword
[ bahy-wurd ]
noun
- a word or phrase associated with some person or thing; a characteristic expression, typical greeting, or the like.
- a word or phrase used proverbially; common saying; proverb.
- an object of general reproach, derision, scorn, etc.:
His crimes will make him a byword through the ages.
- an epithet, often of scorn.
byword
/ ˈbaɪˌwɜːd /
noun
- a person, place, or thing regarded as a perfect or proverbial example of something
their name is a byword for good service
- an object of scorn or derision
- a common saying; proverb
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of byword1
Example Sentences
Columbine became a byword for a distinctly American form of danger and, in the law-enforcement world, the need for immediate efforts to confront active shooters.
Friedman said “caution has been a byword” in his long handling of the case but it was time for Hinckley to be set free.
Flying cars are almost a byword for the misplaced optimism of technologists, but recent news suggests their future may be on slightly firmer footing.
Robinhood, the brokerage that has become a byword for the boom in retail trading, is planning to go public.
Soon their sweeping machine was outselling their cups and saucers and Bissell became a byword for floor cleaners—by royal appointment too!
It was a ghastly tragedy that rattled a nation and became a byword for anti-Semitism in France.
At a time when “right to work” has become a byword for union-busting, this is radical indeed.
Syndicated columnist Dan Savage even campaigned to turn “santorum” into a byword for sexual waste as revenge.
By Leo Mirani Drones have a terrible reputation, mostly because they have become a byword for death and destruction.
But he marred it all by a temper so ungovernable that in Paris there was current a byword, "Explosive as Garnache."
For years the names of oil king and iron master have been a hissing and a byword among the hot-heads in America.
A prince may be the byword of all Europe, yet he alone know nothing of it.
And besides, when folk talk of a country covered with troops, it's but a kind of a byword at the best.
Had not the justice of the strong become a byword and a loathing?
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse