| Library / English Dictionary |
FIGURATIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
Example:
figurative language
Synonyms:
figurative; nonliteral
Classified under:
Similar:
analogical (expressing, composed of, or based on an analogy)
extended (beyond the literal or primary sense)
metaphoric; metaphorical (expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another)
metonymic; metonymical (using the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated)
poetic (characterized by romantic imagery)
synecdochic; synecdochical (using the name of a part for that of the whole or the whole for the part; or the special for the general or the general for the special; or the material for the thing made of it)
tropical (characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense)
Also:
rhetorical (given to rhetoric, emphasizing style at the expense of thought)
Antonym:
literal (limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Consisting of or forming human or animal figures
Example:
the figurative art of the humanistic tradition
Synonyms:
figural; figurative
Classified under:
Similar:
representational ((used especially of art) depicting objects, figures,or scenes as seen)
