Metaphorically

adv

adv ·5 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adverb
  1. 1
    In a metaphorical manner; not literally; by means of metaphor.

    "He conveyed his teachings metaphorically."

  2. 2
    Used to draw attention that what follows is a metaphor, not to be taken literally

    "Metaphorically, he was crushed."

Adverb
  1. 1
    in a metaphorical manner wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
as it wereas it werenonliterally

Example

More examples

"In present day Japan, "alchemy" is only used metaphorically; to refer to improper means of making money by politicians or religious hucksters with no morals or shame."

Etymology

From metaphorical + -ly.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.