All 4 Uses

proverb
in
Ulysses, by James Joyce
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Invent a story for some proverb.†
Chpt 4 *

proverb = a well-known, short saying that is thought to communicate wisdom
(His yellow parrotbeak gabbles nasally) They had a proverb in the Carpathians in or about the year five thousand five hundred and fifty of our era†
Chpt 15
Faultfinding being a proverbially bad hat Mr Bloom thought well to stir or try to the clotted sugar from the bottom and reflected with something approaching acrimony on the Coffee Palace and its temperance (and lucrative) work.†
Chpt 16
And when all was said and done the lies a fellow told about himself couldn't probably hold a proverbial candle to the wholesale whoppers other fellows coined about him.†
Chpt 16

proverbial = of a well-known metaphor or proverb

Definitions:

(1) (proverb as in: the well-known proverb)
a short saying -- typically well-known and accepted by many as offering good advice

The adjective, proverbial, may refer to a proverb or to anything that is well-known -- as in "It is a proverbial fish story exaggeration."
(2) (Proverbs as in: from The Book of Proverbs)
a work of wisdom literature found in both the Old Testament of the Christian Bible and the Hebrew Bible
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)