Figurative Meaning
/ˈfɪɡəɹətɪv/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf use as a metaphor, simile, metonym or other figure of speech, as opposed to literal; using figures.
adjMetaphorically so called.
Sentence Examples
The figurative meaning is no longer in current use.
This is a figurative expression.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
When she said her heart was broken, she meant it in a ____ sense, not literally.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The poet used ____ language to describe the sunset, comparing it to a dying ember in the sky.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French figuratif.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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:
"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:
"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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CEFR Practice Quiz
When she said her heart was broken, she meant it in a ____ sense, not literally.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The poet used ____ language to describe the sunset, comparing it to a dying ember in the sky.