The phrase "complex metaphor" is correct and can be used in written English
It is used to describe a metaphor that is more elaborate or intricate in its comparison than a simple metaphor. Example: In the novel, the author employs a complex metaphor comparing the protagonist's constant struggles to a never-ending maze, symbolizing the complexities of human life.
But simple terms are not feasible here, for just as Pullman's worlds abut and overlap each other, so his narrative is designed as a complex metaphor.
It's a beautifully complex metaphor, but a disturbing way to bind a novel — that is, if you want to leave a young reader with hope.
Danaher collects knives, which he considers a complex metaphor for his sport, one that he elaborated on for five minutes: "A knife can be used to make a sandwich; a knife can be used to save somebody's life — as you're struggling to get out of a car, you can cut the seatbelt and escape — a knife can be used to serve justice, it can be used for murder.
It doesn't make this country more "competitive": it does not, in any direct sense, enable us to "win the future" (though it might enable us to fully appreciate that complex metaphor).
He diagrams his points, dilates on English constitutional history, produces complex metaphors like "the clockwork universe" and the world as "a machine of moving parts".
I learnt a few interesting words along the way, which is always fun! Complex metaphors and the coldly beautiful imagery capture the setting brilliantly.
Words, with which I have always been intimate, seemed suddenly like complex metaphors, the use of which entailed much more energy than I had.
The court poets tried to top one another in the accumulation of complex metaphors and paradoxes, each hoping to win the coveted title "Prince of Poets".
The images -- usually photographed from newspapers -- that Ms. Sacco projects onto those surfaces transform the objects into complex metaphors, revealing the moral dimensions of everyday things, places and experiences.
Originally founded by three friends and rap lovers at Yale, Rap Genius let users upload lyrics to its site, and add explanations of the complex metaphors and slang.
As with so many other complex metaphors from the past, Foucault's idea of the "Panopticon" in Discipline and Punish has become depressingly easy to explain because the Internet has made it depressingly literal.
