byword
noun
by·word ˈbī-ˌwərd 
1
: a proverbial saying : proverb
2
a
: one that personifies a type
b
: one that is noteworthy or notorious
3
: epithet
4
: a frequently used word or phrase
Synonyms
- adage
- aphorism
- apothegm
- epigram
- maxim
- proverb
- saw
- saying
- sententia
- word
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Mom's favorite byword is “You can get more flies with honey than with vinegar”. nationally, Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive has become a byword for luxury retailing
Recent Examples on the Web Bucha, a leafy suburb of Kyiv where the couple shared a house made of brownstone, has become a byword for Russian atrocities. 
Shira Pinson, NBC News, 14 Sep. 2022 By the turn of the 21st century, for many chefs, fusion had become a byword for cultural appropriation and bad taste. Joshua David Stein, WSJ, 22 July 2022 Their names were a byword for the very idea of Entertainment writ large. Christina Catherine Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2022 Over the past decade, Edirisa’s hiking and dugout canoeing tours, run not-for-profit and providing employment opportunities for dozens of local people, have become a byword for culturally sensitive travel that goes beyond the guidebooks. Outside Online, 18 May 2015 For now, a sorrowful procession arrives daily at the morgue in Bucha, a town whose name has become a byword for hideous suffering coming to light weeks after the fact. Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2022 Now Bucha is a byword for war crimes, like Srebrenica or My Lai. Time, 14 Apr. 2022 In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista government has become a byword for overt power grabs and human rights abuses. Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Mar. 2022 The graying West looks fearfully to Japan — itself a byword for overpopulation in the early 20th century — where crashing fertility threatens government finances, the economy, and the social order at large. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022 See More
Shira Pinson, NBC News, 14 Sep. 2022 By the turn of the 21st century, for many chefs, fusion had become a byword for cultural appropriation and bad taste. Joshua David Stein, WSJ, 22 July 2022 Their names were a byword for the very idea of Entertainment writ large. Christina Catherine Martinez, Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2022 Over the past decade, Edirisa’s hiking and dugout canoeing tours, run not-for-profit and providing employment opportunities for dozens of local people, have become a byword for culturally sensitive travel that goes beyond the guidebooks. Outside Online, 18 May 2015 For now, a sorrowful procession arrives daily at the morgue in Bucha, a town whose name has become a byword for hideous suffering coming to light weeks after the fact. Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2022 Now Bucha is a byword for war crimes, like Srebrenica or My Lai. Time, 14 Apr. 2022 In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega’s Sandinista government has become a byword for overt power grabs and human rights abuses. Whitney Eulich, The Christian Science Monitor, 29 Mar. 2022 The graying West looks fearfully to Japan — itself a byword for overpopulation in the early 20th century — where crashing fertility threatens government finances, the economy, and the social order at large. Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, 17 Mar. 2022 See More Word History
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
bywords
noun
1
as in sayings
an often stated observation regarding something from common experience Mom's favorite byword is "You can get more flies with honey than with vinegar" Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- sayings
- words
- proverbs
- maxims
- mottoes
- mottos
- aphorisms
- apothegms
- epigrams
- adages
- clichés
- sententiae
- cliches
- saws
- platitudes
- commonplaces
- expressions
- felicities
- bromides
- truths
- truisms
- axioms
- precepts
- remarks
- formulas
- wheezes
- comments
- formulae
- reflections
- notes
2
as in classics
the most perfect type or example nationally, Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive has become a byword for luxury retailing Synonyms & Similar Words
- classics
- manifestations
- ideals
- perfections
- models
- epitomes
- incarnations
- exemplars
- standards
- zeniths
- acmes
- apotheoses
- quintessences
- paradigms
- heights
- prototypes
- beau ideals
- paragons
- avatars
- benchmarks
- archetypes
- touchstones
- personifications
- incorporations
- abstracts
- criteria
- yardsticks
- criterions
- last words
- ultimates
- nonpareils
- embodiments
- embodiers
- meridians
- I'll be danged
- I'll be darned
- I'll be hanged
- I'll be seeing you
- i'll drink to that!
- I'll eat my hat
- I'll give you that
- I'll have you know
- I'll say
- i'll) tell you what
- I'm
- I'm easy
- i'm your man
- I'm/he's/she's your man
- i's
- I've
- i've got it
- i've had it up to here
- i-ch'ang
- I-head
- i-pin
- i.c.o.
- i.c.o.s
- i.e.
- I/O device