Meaning & use
allegory
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Meanings
nouncountable
A story, poem or picture in which the characters and events stand for ideas about morality, politics or life.
Grammar: Countable: an allegory, many allegories; often followed by of or for.
Patterns
- an allegory of something
- an allegory for something
The novel is an allegory of political corruption.
Many readers see the film as an allegory for climate change.
The medieval play is an allegory in which Virtue and Vice are characters.
noununcountabletechnical
The use of this method of storytelling, in which a whole work carries a hidden second meaning.
Grammar: Uncountable when about the technique: the writer uses allegory.
Patterns
- use allegory
- in allegory
The poet turns to allegory to criticize the king without naming him.
Allegory is common in religious literature.
Her essay explains how allegory differs from simple symbolism.
Word forms
| plural | allegories |
|---|
Common combinations
- political allegory
- The book is a political allegory disguised as a farm story.
- religious allegory
- The painting is a religious allegory of salvation.
- an allegory of
- The film is an allegory of growing up.
- read as an allegory
- The tale can be read as an allegory of greed.
- extended allegory
- The poem is an extended allegory about the journey of life.
Synonyms and how they differ
- parable
- A parable is a short story that teaches a moral lesson, while allegory is usually longer and carries a full set of hidden meanings.
- fable
- A fable usually features talking animals and ends with a plain moral, whereas allegory represents bigger ideas in a deeper way.
- metaphor
- A metaphor is a single comparison, while allegory sustains the symbolic meaning through a whole work.
- symbolism
- Symbolism uses objects to stand for ideas anywhere in a work, while allegory builds the entire story around such representation.
Word family
- allegorical adjective
- working as an allegory
- allegorically adverb
- in the manner of an allegory
- allegorize verb
- to treat or interpret as an allegory
- allegorist noun
- a writer of allegories
Commonly confused: allegory or allergy? allegory or alligator?
allegory vs allergy
An allergy is a bodily reaction to a substance; it sounds similar but is unrelated to stories.
allegory vs alligator
An alligator is a reptile, and only the first letters of the word resemble allegory.
Practice
A story in which a farm's animals represent the leaders of a revolution is best described as ______.
Choose one answer.
An allegory uses characters to stand for larger ideas or real people. An anecdote is a short personal story and does not carry that hidden structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “allegory”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.