figurative

CEFRC1

/ˈfɪɡəɹətɪv/

adjective

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    adjective

    Using words in a nonliteral way to create an image or idea.

  2. 02

    adjective

    Extra detail

    Metaphorically so called.

Examples

  • The figurative meaning is no longer in current use.

  • This is a figurative expression.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
2

Deep Dive

adjective

Extra meanings

  1. With many figures of speech.

  2. Of use as a metaphor, simile, metonym or other figure of speech, as opposed to literal; using figures.

  3. Emblematic, symbolic; representative, exemplative

More examples

In context

  • 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.

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

  • 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.

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

When she said her heart was broken, she meant it in a blank sense, not literally.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

adjective

From Middle French figuratif.