figurative en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈfɪɡ.(j)ər.ə.tɪv/ us
- /ˈfɪɡəɹətɪv/
- (US) audio
Etymology
From Middle French figuratif.
Meanings
-
Of use as a metaphor, simile, metonym or other figure of speech, as opposed to literal; using figures.
Into an error of this kind they have fallen, who have claimed for the proverb, and made it one of its necessary conditions, that it should be a figurative expression. A moment’s consideration will be sufficient to disprove this. How many proverbs, such as Haste makes waste;—Honesty is the best policy, with ten thousand more, have nothing figurative about them.
1861, Richard Chenevix Trench, chapter 1, in Proverbs and Their Lessons, Fifth edition, page 18:It is important to emphasize that Kafka as an autistic person was not always consciously aware his interpretations and writings were literal, thus the line between literal and figurative were not consciously clear for Kafka. This blurring stems from the specific focus of autistic persons who look at external predictable behavior of people and situations rather than at internal mental states of individuals. Kafka wrote from his autistic perspective in which the literal form is a default state of understanding the external world. For Kafka to move beyond the literal is not only to express that which cannot be said literally, but to express that which is not literal. The figurative is not simply not the literal, it is more than the literal. It is beyond the literal. The gap between the literal and the figurative, across which the reader is compelled by language to traverse, is for Kafka also the space which language cannot adequately express. The use of parable by Kafka marks his most concentrated effort to examine the space between language and that which is beyond language.
2017 May 16, Jerry Stuger, “Kafka and Autism. The Undisclosed Logic Behind Kafka’s Work”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, volume 47, →DOI, pages 2336–2347:The lovers she seems to pursue with her figurative language in fact retreat under the barrage of similes, metaphors and fables.
2005 May 1, “The Sea of Love”, in New York Times:
- Metaphorically so called.
- With many figures of speech.
-
Emblematic, symbolic; representative, exemplative.
This, they will say, was figurative, and served, by God's appointment, but for a time, to shadow out the true glory of a more divine sanctity.
[1594], Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Iohn Windet, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
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Representing forms recognisable in life and clearly derived from real object sources, in contrast to abstract art.
1875-1886, John Addington Symonds, Renaissance in Italy They belonged to a nation dedicated to the figurative arts, and they wrote for a public familiar with painted form.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most figurative | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more figurative | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
figuratively · nonfigurative · unfigurative · semifigurative · figurativeness
Relateds
Synonyms
metaphorical · allegorical · symbolic · tropic
Translations (90)
ru метафори́ческий (metaphorical; not literal) · ar اِسْتِعَارِيّ (metaphorical; not literal) · nn biletleg (metaphorical; not literal) · it figurativo (metaphorical; not literal) · sv figurativ (metaphorical; not literal) · bg метафоричен (metaphorical; not literal) · nl figuurlijk (metaphorical; not literal) · az məcazi (metaphorical; not literal) · pl przenośny (metaphorical; not literal) · de symbolisch (emblematic) · de verblümt (metaphorical; not literal) · grc ἀλληγορικός (metaphorical; not literal) · it figurato (metaphorical; not literal) · de figürlich (metaphorical; not literal) · cs obrazný (metaphorical; not literal) · ja 比喩的な (metaphorical; not literal) · ro figurativ (metaphorical; not literal) · fa استعاری (metaphorical; not literal) · gl figurativo (metaphorical; not literal) · oc figurat (with many figures of speech) · ar رَمْزِيّ (metaphorical; not literal) · da figurativ (art) · ka გადატანითი მნიშვნელობით (metaphorically so called) · de sinnbildlich (emblematic) · tr mecazi (metaphorical; not literal) · hu szimbolikus (emblematic) · ar مَجَازِيّ (metaphorical; not literal) · es figurativo (metaphorical; not literal) · et kujundlik (metaphorical; not literal) · bg преносен (metaphorically so called) · hu átvitt értelemben (metaphorically so called) · ka მეტაფორული (metaphorical; not literal) · el μεταφορικός (metaphorical; not literal) · uk о́бразний (metaphorical; not literal) · ru фигура́льный (metaphorical; not literal) · fa پراستعاره (with many figures of speech) · ka ხატოვანი (metaphorical; not literal) · vi nghĩa bóng (metaphorical; not literal) · ang hīewlīċ (metaphorical; not literal) · bg преносен (metaphorical; not literal) · tr sembolik (metaphorical; not literal) · hu átvitt (metaphorical; not literal) · es traslaticio (metaphorical; not literal) · de übertragen (metaphorical; not literal) · uk перено́сний (metaphorical; not literal) · ru перено́сный (metaphorical; not literal) · de metaphorisch (metaphorical; not literal) · af figuurlik (art) · hu képletes (metaphorical; not literal) · pt figurado (metaphorical; not literal) · ca figuratiu (metaphorical; not literal) · de symbolisch (metaphorical; not literal) · cmn 象徵 /象征 (metaphorical; not literal) · ka გადატანითი (metaphorical; not literal) · fi kuvaannollinen (metaphorical; not literal) · el εικαστικός (emblematic) · de bildlich (metaphorical; not literal) · de bilderreich (with many figures of speech) · nb billedlig (metaphorical; not literal) · da symbolsk (metaphorically so called) · oc figurat (metaphorically so called) · de uneigentlich (metaphorical; not literal) · da overført (metaphorical; not literal) · oc figuratiu (emblematic) · gd samhlachail (metaphorical; not literal) · hy փոխաբերական (metaphorical; not literal) · pt figurativo (metaphorical; not literal) · cmn 比喻 (metaphorical; not literal) · da billedlig (metaphorical; not literal) · oc figurat (metaphorical; not literal) · hu jelképes (emblematic) · es figurado (metaphorical; not literal) · el πολύσημος (with many figures of speech) · nl overdrachtelijk (metaphorical; not literal) · grc τροπικός (metaphorical; not literal) · nb figurativ (art) · hu jelképes (metaphorical; not literal) · de im übertragenen Sinne (metaphorically so called) · fr figuré (metaphorical; not literal) · ca figuratiu (art) · ru о́бразный (metaphorical; not literal) · cs přenesený (metaphorical; not literal) · bg образен (with many figures of speech) · da såkaldt (metaphorically so called) · oc figurat (emblematic) · tr şekilli (metaphorical; not literal) · nn figurativ (art) · fa انگاری (metaphorical; not literal) · la tropicus (metaphorical; not literal) · fr figuratif (metaphorical; not literal)