Proverbial

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Proverbial \Pro*ver"bi*al\, a. [L. proverbialis: cf. F.
     proverbial.]
     1. Mentioned or comprised in a proverb; used as a proverb;
        hence, commonly known; as, a proverbial expression; his
        meanness was proverbial.
        [1913 Webster]


  
              In case of excesses, I take the German proverbial
              cure, by a hair of the same beast, to be the worst.
                                                    --Sir W.
                                                    Temple.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Of or pertaining to proverbs; resembling a proverb. "A
        proverbial obscurity." --Sir T. Browne.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  proverbial
       adj 1: of or relating to or resembling or expressed in a proverb;
              "he kicked the proverbial bucket"; "the proverbial
              grasshopper"
       2: widely known and spoken of; "her proverbial lateness"; "the
          proverbial absentiminded professor"; "your proverbial
          dizzy blonde"

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  45 Moby Thesaurus words for "proverbial":
     accepted, acknowledged, aphoristic, apophthegmatic, apothegmatic,
     archetypal, axiomatic, common, commonly known, commonplace, crisp,
     current, epigrammatic, exemplary, familiar, formulaic, formulistic,
     gnomic, hackneyed, homiletic, household, moralistic, notorious,
     pithy, platitudinous, pointed, public, pungent, sententious,
     succinct, talked-about, talked-of, terse, time-honored,
     traditional, trite, truistic, typical, universally admitted,
     universally recognized, well-kenned, well-known, well-recognized,
     well-understood, widely known