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/ˈbaɪ.wə(ɹ)d/ · noun
A proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase..
Illustrious unfortunates attract a wider sympathy, not because their griefs are more intense, but because, being set on lofty pedestals, they the better serve mankind as instances and bywords of calamity.
He hath made me also a byword of the people […]
"I know you and Harry are inseparable. Surely for that reason, if for none other, you should not have made his sister's name a by-word."
Use by word when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.
By word means A proverb or proverbial expression, common saying; a frequently used word or phrase..
Common synonyms include adage, proverb, saw.
The opposite depends on the specific sense.
Illustrious unfortunates attract a wider sympathy, not because their griefs are more intense, but because, being set on lofty pedestals, they the better serve mankind as instances and bywords of calamity.
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