Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

figurative

Pronunciation: /ˈfɪg(ə)rətɪv, -gjʊ-/

Translate figurative | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of figurative

adjective

  • 1departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical:a figurative expression
  • 2(of an artist or work of art) representing forms that are recognizably derived from life.

Derivatives

figuratively

adverb

figurativeness

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from late Latin figurativus, from figurare 'to form or fashion', from figura (see figure)

figurative in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of figurative in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

leporine

/ ˈlɛpərʌɪn /
adjective
of or resembling a hare or hares …