allegorical
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of allegorical
First recorded in 1520–30; equivalent to Late Latin allēgoric(us) (from Greek allēgorikós; see allegory, -ic) + -al 1
Explanation
The story about the dog who sees his reflection in a lake, thinks it's another dog, then drops his bone in the water trying to snatch the reflected bone, is allegorical. Allegorical means containing a moral or hidden meaning. Allegorical stories and plays use concrete ideas as symbols for deeper or layered meanings. Folk tales and fables are often allegorical. Visual art, like paintings, can also be allegorical, with religious or even political messages symbolized by painted figures. The Greek word for allegory, allegoria, comes from allos, "another," and agoreuein, "speak openly. So if you speak of one thing, but mean something else, that's allegorical.
Vocabulary lists containing allegorical
Rhetorical Devices
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Rhetorical Devices
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A Brief History of Time
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Allegorical images — Temperance, Justice, Charity — on urban facades promoted civic pride and obedience.
From New York Times • Aug. 18, 2016
Allegorical reading requires sustaining both image and meaning in the reader’s mind, as equally valued components of the work.
From Slate • May 3, 2016
Allegorical characters such as Joking Jesus, a Pope/Antichrist and Jester/Death trail them in symbolic profusion.
From Time Magazine Archive
His "Senator Tillman's Allegorical Cow" grinned from every fencepost in the Bryan-Taft campaign of 1908.
From Time Magazine Archive
Allegorical interpretation of Scripture, or of stories, or of natural history is not the same thing as allegorical invention.
From Medieval English Literature Home University of Modern Knowledge #43 by Ker, W. P. (William Paton)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
