figurative

From Middle French figuratif.

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪɡəɹətɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

figurative (comparative more figurative, superlative most figurative)

1. Of use as a metaphor, simile, metonym or other figure of speech, as opposed to literal; using figures; as when saying that someone who eats more than they should is a pig or like a pig.
   • 2005 May 1, “The Sea of Love”, in New York Times‎:

     The lovers she seems to pursue with her figurative language in fact retreat under the barrage of similes, metaphors and fables.

2. Metaphorically so called.
3. With many figures of speech.
4. Emblematic, symbolic; representative, exemplative
   • 1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, […], London: […] Will[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     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.

5. (art) 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.

• literal

• figure

• transferred sense

• “figurative”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “figurative”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “figurative”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “figurative”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “figurative”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• figurative in Britannica Dictionary
• What is figurative language?, merriam-webster.com
• figurative in WordReference English Collocations
• Figurative art on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Literal and figurative language on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• IPA^(key): /fi.ɡy.ʁa.tiv/
• Homophone: figuratives

figurative

1. feminine singular of figuratif

• Audio

  (file)

figurative

1. inflection of figurativ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

figurative

1. feminine plural of figurativo

• figuratevi

figurative

1. definite singular/plural of figurativ

figurative

1. definite singular/plural of figurativ