proverbial


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pro·ver·bi·al

 (prə-vûr′bē-əl)
adj.
1. Of the nature of a proverb.
2. Expressed in a proverb.
3. Widely referred to, as if the subject of a proverb; famous.

pro·ver′bi·al·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

proverbial

(prəˈvɜːbɪəl)
adj
1. (prenominal) commonly or traditionally referred to, esp as being an example of some peculiarity, characteristic, etc
2. of, connected with, embodied in, or resembling a proverb
proˈverbially adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pro•ver•bi•al

(prəˈvɜr bi əl)

adj.
1. of, characteristic of, or resembling a proverb.
2. expressed in or as if in a proverb.
3. having become an object of common mention or reference: his proverbial wit.
pro•ver′bi•al•ly, adv.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.proverbial - of or relating to or resembling or expressed in a proverb; "he kicked the proverbial bucket"; "the proverbial grasshopper"
2.proverbial - widely known and spoken of; "her proverbial lateness"; "the proverbial absentminded professor"; "your proverbial dizzy blonde"
known - apprehended with certainty; "a known quantity"; "the limits of the known world"; "a musician known throughout the world"; "a known criminal"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

proverbial

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations
مَثَلي، مَضْرِب الأمْثال
příslovečný
közismertközmodásos
málsháttar-; alòekktur
povestnýpríslovečný
atasözüne ait

proverbial

[prəˈvɜːbɪəl] ADJproverbial
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

proverbial

[prəˈvɜːrbiəl] adjproverbial(e)
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

proverbial

adj (lit, fig)sprichwörtlich
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

proverbial

[prəˈvɜːbɪəl] adjproverbiale
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

proverb

(ˈprovəːb) noun
a well-known saying that gives good advice or expresses a supposed truth. Two common proverbs are `Many hands make light work' and `Don't count your chickens before they're hatched!'
proˈverbial adjective
proˈverbially adverb
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
I SHALL here, perhaps, be reminded of a current observation, "that where annual elections end, tyranny begins." If it be true, as has often been remarked, that sayings which become proverbial are generally founded in reason, it is not less true, that when once established, they are often applied to cases to which the reason of them does not extend.
The proverbial Englishman, we know from old chronicler Froissart, takes his pleasures sadly, and the Englishwoman goes a step further and takes her pleasures in sadness itself.
It is even at the present day proverbial to calculate the number of acres of roofing, the restoration of which would, in our age, be the ruin of fortunes cramped and narrowed as the epoch itself.
Among the Greeks, barbers' news was a proverbial expression; and Horace, in one of his epistles, makes honourable mention of the Roman barbers in the same light.
Miranda had never heard the proverbial phrase about the only "good Indian," but her mind worked in the conventional manner when she said grimly, "Yes, I've noticed that dead husbands are usually good ones; but the truth needs an airin' now and then, and that child will never amount to a hill o' beans till she gets some of her father trounced out of her.
Hence the proverbial toleration of artists for their own evil creations.
For a moment, in the great clamor, he was like a proverbial chicken.
The Englishman's proverbial lack of bragging is a subtler form of brag after all.
Besides, you are a Fentolin, and our love of truth is proverbial. But there are times, you know, when for the good of others we must sacrifice our scruples.
While, in the pursuit of their daring plans of annoyance, the restless enterprise of the French even attempted the distant and difficult gorges of the Alleghany, it may easily be imagined that their proverbial acuteness would not overlook the natural advantages of the district we have just described.
The argument of the Republic is the search after Justice, the nature of which is first hinted at by Cephalus, the just and blameless old man-- then discussed on the basis of proverbial morality by Socrates and Polemarchus--then caricatured by Thrasymachus and partially explained by Socrates--reduced to an abstraction by Glaucon and Adeimantus, and having become invisible in the individual reappears at length in the ideal State which is constructed by Socrates.
The man who is telling the story has a proverbial great advantage; but I hope the reader knows enough of me by this to believe that I am far from meanly availing myself of it in this narrative.