figurative

[fig-yer-uh-tiv] /ˈfɪg yər ə tɪv/

adjective

of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical and not literal: The word “head” has several figurative senses, as in “She's the head of the company.”.

Synonyms: metaphorical, not literal, symbolic.

metaphorically so called:

His remark was a figurative boomerang.

abounding in or fond of figures of speech:

Elizabethan poetry is highly figurative.

Synonyms: ornate, ornamental, flowery, elaborate, florid, grandiloquent.

representing by means of a figure or likeness, as in drawing or sculpture.

representing by a figure or emblem; emblematic.

Origin

1350-1400; Middle English < Late Latin figūrātīvus (see figurate, -ive); replacing Middle English figuratif < Middle French

Related forms

figuratively, adverb

figurativeness, noun

nonfigurative, adjective

nonfiguratively, adverb

nonfigurativeness, noun

semifigurative, adjective

semifiguratively, adverb

semifigurativeness, noun

unfigurative, adjective

unfiguratively, adverb

unfigurativeness, noun

Can be confused

figuratively, literally, virtually (see usage note at literally)

Examples from the web for figurative

The future would be characterized not by the literal but only the figurative war of ideas.
In turn, those perceptions can enhance colleges' literal and figurative fortunes.
It reveals the oldest known figurative paintings in the world.
His political office also pinched him, in a figurative way.
As a figurative painter coming up in an age of abstraction, he had the appeal of the eccentric.
In considering this problem, he suggests that one builds a figurative box.
Nearly every word presents a concrete meaning, clearly visible even through a figurative use.
figurative usage is frequently the starting point of a permanent change in sense.
Her métier was brightly coloured pictures with dark angry lines, part abstract, part-figurative.
He implies that this level of figurative ornament is a kind of self-censorship by simile.

British Dictionary definitions for figurative

figurative

/ˈfɪɡərətɪv/

adjective

of the nature of, resembling, or involving a figure of speech; not literal; metaphorical

using or filled with figures of speech

representing by means of an emblem, likeness, figure, etc

(in painting, sculpture, etc) of, relating to, or characterized by the naturalistic representation of the external world

Derived Forms

figuratively, adverb
figurativeness, noun

Word Origin and History for figurative

adj.

late 14c., from Old French figuratif "metaphorical," from Late Latin figurativus, from figurat-, past participle stem of figurare "to form, shape," from figura "a shape, form, figure" (see figure (n.)). Of speech, language, etc., "involving figures of speech," from 1845. Related: Figuratively.