Here are some less common, but nonetheless useful, words about weather, so that you can have typical weather conversations where you agree with someone by using a near synonym.

In these examples, B replies using more informal language.

It's a bit cold today, isn't it?

Yes, it's chilly, isn't it?

Yes, it's freezing, isn't it?

Yes, it's nippy, isn't it?

It's hot, isn't it?

Yes, it's boiling.

Yes, it's sweltering.

Yes, it's roasting.

It's a bit windy today.

Yes, really blowy, isn't it?

Yes, really breezy, isn't it?

What oppressive weather!

What sultry weather!

Yes, isn't it stifling?

Yes, isn't it heavy?

Yes, isn't it close?

What a downpour!

What a deluge!

Yes, it's chucking it down.

Yes, it's pouring.

Isn't it humid today?

Yes, horrible muggy weather.

Yes, horrible clammy weather.

Yes, horrible sticky weather.

b. Climate and metaphors

Climate metaphors are often used, particularly in written English.

The word climate can refer to the general atmosphere or situation in society.

His secrecy and dishonesty created a climate of distrust.

The government reforms have contributed to a climate of change.

The words cultural, current, economic, financial, moral, political, social and prevailing all collocate strongly with climate in this social sense.

She has a very sunny disposition.

She's hardly ever miserable.

Though they won the championship last year, the outlook for the team is less sunny this year.

Unfortunately, our plans met with a frosty reception.

I'm snowed under with work.

I'll never get through it all in time.

After the company accounts were examined, the manager left under a cloud.

Don't let your love for him cloud your judgement.

The soldiers were hit with a hail of bullets.

The Prime Minister was greeted with a hail of abuse.

The Prime Minister was greeted with a storm of abuse.

I've only a hazy memory of my first day at school.

The truth is hidden in the mists of history.

The article sparked a whirlwind of speculation.

They had a whirlwind romance and got married just a month after they met.

Thunderous applause followed his speech.

The winds of change are blowing across the country.

The winds of discontent are blowing across the country.

The winds of democracy are blowing across the country.

To build something or someone up can be used metaphorically to mean to praise someone or something in a way that will increase expectations of them.

For example, the press has built up the young footballer so much that it must be extra pressure on him.

Note how cement is used to fix bricks firmly in place and to make relationships more solid.

It can be used in this way both as a noun and a verb.

For example, let's have a drink together to cement our partnership.

To come up against a brick wall is used metaphorically meaning to meet a barrier.

For example, when I tried to find out who had opened my letters

I came up against a brick wall.

Ceiling can be used to suggest a limit to something.

For example, they put a ceiling on the number of planned redundancies.

The glass ceiling is a phrase used to refer to an invisible barrier that stops people, especially women, from rising to top positions at work.

Roof is used in a number of common metaphors.

For example, the roof fell in on my world on the day he died.

Conversely, the floor can give way metaphorically when you faint.

The informal phrase, go through the roof, is used about prices meaning to increase in a rapid, uncontrolled fashion.

Hit the roof means get very angry.

For example, my mother will hit the roof when she sees what we've done.

Window, both literally and metaphorically, means an opening.

A window of opportunity is a chance to do something special.

For example, if you see a window of opportunity, then take advantage of it.

If a quality or idea goes out of the window, it means it departs.

For example, once the boys started going around together common sense went out of the window.

As a very tall building, tower conveys an idea of distance from ordinary people.

If someone lives in an ivory tower, he or she does not know about the unpleasant and ordinary things that happen in life.

For example, academics are often criticised for living in their ivory towers.

If a person is a tower of strength, they are extremely strong in an emotional rather than a physical sense.

For example, our friends were a tower of strength when our house burnt down.

If a person or thing towers above something or someone they are either outstandingly tall or outstanding in some other positive way.

For example, Lauren towers above all her classmates although she is actually one of the youngest students.

Gateway is used metaphorically in the phrase be a gateway to meaning give an opportunity to get somewhere.

For example, a degree in law is a gateway to a well-paid job.

Door can also be used in a similar way to gateway above but it is also used in many other metaphorical phrases as well.

For example, failing his final exams closed or shut a lot of doors for him.

Knowing several languages opens doors when it comes to finding work.

The new year gives us the opportunity to close the door on the past and make a fresh start.

Doing something through or by the back door suggests doing it unofficially.

For example, Jack came into the business by the back door.

The manager knew him from university.

Doing something behind closed doors suggests secrecy.

Unfortunately, the decision was taken behind closed doors and no one knows exactly why it was made.

Key can be used as a noun to suggest the importance of something.

For example, this research may provide or hold the key to developing a cure for cancer.

Knowing the right people is the key to success in that country.

Parts of a plant.

Here are some metaphors based on parts of trees and plants.

Seed or seeds is often used to talk about the start of an idea or feeling.

For example, the seeds of success, the seeds of discontent, the seeds of revolution.

Root or roots is used to suggest the origins of something.

You can talk about going back to your roots, for example, meaning going back to the place where your family came from.

You can also talk about the root of a problem or the roots of a tradition.

Putting down roots means settling down and making your home in one place.

For example, after travelling the world for a couple of years,

I was ready to go home and put down some roots.

When an idea becomes known or accepted, it can be said to take root.

For example, the grassroots supporters of an organisation or society are the ordinary people in it, not the leaders.

Deeply and firmly collocate with rooted.

For example, its origins are firmly or deeply rooted in the 19th century.

Stem is used as a verb to signify that something originates in something else.

For example, her discontent stems from a traumatic experience she had last year.

Bud is used in the expression nipped in the bud.

For example, he's showing signs of neglecting his work.

We'd better nip that in the bud.

The adjective budding can also mean showing promise of future development.

For example, she's a budding young actor.

A branch is something that grows off or branches out from a main organisation.

We talk about branches of a shop or a business branching out into new directions.

For example, we don't have the blue sweater in your size here, but you could try our Oxford Street branch.

Metaphorical verbs connected with plant growth and gardening.

The new boss is planning to weed out older or less experienced staff.

The government will probably have to prune back its proposals.

At last she is reaping the rewards of all her years of study.

Because we didn't protest about the change, we are now reaping what we sowed.

The journalists have dug up some interesting facts.

The idea was germinating while we were on holiday.

Out-of-town shopping centres have been sprouting up all over the country.

Our business is flourishing.

We are beginning to see the green shoots of economic recovery.

A deciduous tree sheds its leaves.

Companies can shed employees or jobs.

People can shed worries or inhibitions or weight.

Plants can thrive. So can people and things.

For example, the language school is thriving.

Student numbers are up from last year.

She loves her high-powered job and seems to thrive on stress and crises.

Plants fade, wither, shrivel and wilt when they die.

These verbs can be used metaphorically.

For example, hopes of finding survivors are fading.

Revenues have shriveled in recent years.

Donations have shriveled in recent years.

Profits have shriveled in recent years.

It was so hot in the classroom that the students were starting to wilt.

A glance or look or remark can wither or be withering.

For example, she gave him a withering look.

Describing animals and birds.

Mammal. An animal that gives birth to live babies, not eggs, and feeds them on its own milk.

For example, a cat, a cow, a kangaroo.

A kangaroo is a special kind of mammal called a marsupial.

Rodent. For example, a mouse, a rat.

Reptile. For example, a snake, a lizard.

Carnivore. An animal that eats a diet that is mainly or exclusively meat.

Herbivore. An animal that eats a diet that is mainly or exclusively grass or vegetation.

Predator. An animal that hunts and eats other animals.

Scavenger. An animal that feeds on dead animals, which it has not killed itself.

Warm or cold-blooded.

Warm-blooded animals, for example mammals, have temperatures that stay the same.

Cold-blooded animals, for example reptiles, have to control their temperature by taking in heat from outside or by being very active.

B. Describing typical animal behaviour.

Our old cat is a very docile creature.

These birds are so tame they will sit on your hand.

Dogs and horses became domesticated thousands of years ago.

There are wild cats in the mountains.

A savage wolf killed three of the farmer's sheep.

A fierce dog guarded the gates.

C. Life of animals and birds.

As more buildings and roads are constructed, the natural habitat for many species is shrinking.

The Arctic tern is a bird which migrates from the Arctic to the Antarctic, a round-trip of over 70,000 kilometres.

Migration is when animals travel long distances to get to a different habitat.

The dodo was a large flightless bird which was found on one island in the Indian Ocean, but became extinct in the 17th century.

You can see lots of animals in the big game reserves or game parks in Africa.

There is a bird sanctuary near here.

We went to the local animal rescue shelter to see if we could get a dog there.

D. Human exploitation of animals and birds.

Many people are opposed to blood sports such as fox hunting and bullfighting.

Some people refuse to wear clothing made of natural animal fur since they are opposed to the fur trade.

Poachers kill hundreds of elephants every year to supply the ivory trade.

Animal rights activists often demonstrate outside research laboratories where animals are used in experiments.

Rhinos are hunted for their horn which is said to have healing powers.