The figurative meaning is no longer in current use.
Source: tatoeba (44380)
Figurative
//ˈfɪɡəɹətɪv//
Synonyms for "figurative" (157 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (32)
Strong matches (47)
Related words (78)
logarithmiclogometriclushluxuriantmanneredmeaningmeaningfulmeatymetonymicalmimeticmimishnamingnegativenumeralnumerarynumerativenumericnumericaloddonomatopoeic
Show 57 more words
ordinalornamentedornateoverchargedoverloadedpairpathognomonicpeculiarpersonifyingpictographicpictorialpithypoeticpointedportrayingpositivepossiblepregnantprimepurpleradicalrationalreadablerealreciprocalreferentialrepresentationalrepresentativerepresentingsemanticsemioticsententioussignalizingsignificantsignificativesignifyingsimulativesubmultiplesubstantialsuggestivesurdsymbolicsymbolicalsymbolisticsymbolizingsymbologicalsymptomaticsymptomatologicsynecdochicaltranscendentaltransferredtrolatitioustropicaltropologicaltypicaltypifyingvivid
Adjective(1 words)
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
Antonyms
2 entriesSynonyms
1 entriesRelated terms
2 entriesderived
5 entriesrelated to
7 entriessimilar
19 entriesShowing 16 of 19 words.
Translations
88 translations across 37 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- figuurlik adj (art)
Ancient Greek
2 entries- τροπικός adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- ἀλληγορικός adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Arabic
3 entries- اِسْتِعَارِيّ adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- رَمْزِيّ adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- مَجَازِيّ adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Armenian
1 entries- փոխաբերական adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Azerbaijani
1 entries- məcazi adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Bulgarian
4 entries- метафоричен adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- образен adj (with many figures of speech)
- преносен adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- преносен adj (metaphorically so called)
Catalan
2 entries- figuratiu adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figuratiu adj (art)
Chinese Mandarin
2 entries- 比喻 adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- 象徵 /象征 adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Czech
2 entries- obrazný adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- přenesený adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Danish
4 entries- billedlig adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figurativ adj (art)
- overført adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- symbolsk adj (metaphorically so called)
Dutch
2 entries- figuurlijk adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- overdrachtelijk adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Estonian
1 entries- kujundlik adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Finnish
1 entries- kuvaannollinen adj (metaphorical; not literal)
French
2 entries- figuratif adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figuré adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Galician
1 entries- figurativo adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Georgian
4 entries- გადატანითი adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- გადატანითი მნიშვნელობით adj (metaphorically so called)
- მეტაფორული adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- ხატოვანი adj (metaphorical; not literal)
German
4 entries- bilderreich adj (with many figures of speech)
- bildlich adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figürlich adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- im übertragenen Sinne adj (metaphorically so called)
Greek
3 entries- εικαστικός adj (emblematic)
- μεταφορικός adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- πολύσημος adj (with many figures of speech)
Hungarian
4 entries- jelképes adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- jelképes adj (emblematic)
- képletes adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- szimbolikus adj (emblematic)
Italian
1 entries- figurativo adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Japanese
1 entries- 比喩的な adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Latin
1 entries- tropicus adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Norwegian Bokmål
2 entries- billedlig adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figurativ adj (art)
Norwegian Nynorsk
2 entries- biletleg adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figurativ adj (art)
Occitan
4 entries- figurat adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figurat adj (metaphorically so called)
- figurat adj (with many figures of speech)
- figurat adj (emblematic)
Old English
1 entries- hīewlīċ adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Persian
3 entries- استعاری adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- انگاری adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- پراستعاره adj (with many figures of speech)
Polish
1 entries- przenośny adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Portuguese
1 entries- figurativo adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Romanian
1 entries- figurativ adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Russian
4 entries- метафори́ческий adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- о́бразный adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- перено́сный adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- фигура́льный adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Scottish Gaelic
1 entries- samhlachail adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Spanish
3 entries- figurado adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- figurativo adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- traslaticio adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Swedish
1 entries- figurativ adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Turkish
3 entries- mecazi adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- sembolik adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- şekilli adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Ukrainian
2 entries- о́бразний adj (metaphorical; not literal)
- перено́сний adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Vietnamese
1 entries- nghĩa bóng adj (metaphorical; not literal)
Sample sentences
13 total sentences available.
This is a figurative expression.
Source: tatoeba (3616349)
What do you prefer, abstract or figurative painting?
Source: tatoeba (4159375)
"That story was so funny I literally died from laughter." "Then how come you're talking to me now?" "Of course, I didn't actually die, it was just a figure of speech." "So you're saying you used 'literally' in a figurative way." "Apparently. Got a problem with that?" "No, just finding it amusing that language can twist to the point that a word comes to mean its own opposite."
Source: tatoeba (7675843)
Showing 4 of 13 available sentences.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.