figurative

American  

[fig-yer-uh-tiv] / ˈfɪg jər ə tɪv /

adjective

1. 

   of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical and not literal.

   The word "head" has several figurative senses, as in "She's the head of the company."

   Synonyms:

   symbolic, metaphorical

2. metaphorically so called.

   His remark was a figurative boomerang.

3. abounding in or fond of figures of speech.

   Elizabethan poetry is highly figurative.

   Synonyms:

   grandiloquent, florid, elaborate, flowery, ornamental, ornate

4. representing by means of a figure or likeness, as in drawing or sculpture.

5. representing by a figure or emblem; emblematic.

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figurative British  

/ ˈfɪɡərətɪv /

adjective

1. of the nature of, resembling, or involving a figure of speech; not literal; metaphorical

2. using or filled with figures of speech

3. representing by means of an emblem, likeness, figure, etc

4. (in painting, sculpture, etc) of, relating to, or characterized by the naturalistic representation of the external world

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Other Word Forms

• figurativeness
  noun
• nonfigurativeness
  noun
• semifigurativeness
  noun
• unfigurativeness
  noun
• nonfigurative
  adjective
• semifigurative
  adjective
• unfigurative
  adjective
• figuratively
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of figurative

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English figuratif, fygurative, from Old French figuratif, from Late Latin figūrātīvus; see origin at figure ( def. ), -ative

Explanation

When speech or writing is not literal, it is figurative, like when you say you have a ton of homework. You don't really have 2000 pounds of homework, do you? Also, when art depicts a figure from life it is figurative, like a figurative drawing of a dancer. The adjective figurative comes from the Old French word figuratif, which means “metaphorical.” Any figure of speech — a statement or phrase not intended to be understood literally — is figurative. You say your hands are frozen, or you are so hungry you could eat a horse. That's being figurative. In art, figure means "human or animal form," so a figurative drawing might show horses running across a field.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

figurative

Wolfe also acquired more than 100 Ghanaian fantasy coffins — figurative sculptures, some stretching 10 to 12 feet long, also known as Fantastic Afterlife Vehicles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

A massive figurative painting by Jones’s daughter Freya Jones, a 25-year-old artist, dominates one wall, and a large Richard Prince work sits on another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

She was inviting us into her figurative and literal home — the tour bus she resided in for over a decade, with an overzealous guide to boot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

The miracle everyone pulls off is making a poisonous relationship dryly hilarious, even if every civilized exchange eventually becomes a figurative frying pan flying through the air.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Paintings of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are still entirely figurative; Kandinsky’s first abstract painting did not emerge until 1910.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• allegorical
• descriptive
• fanciful
• florid
• metaphoric
• metaphorical
• pictorial