Figurative language includes figures of speech, such as similes ("she's been like a sister to me") and metaphors ("a storm of protest"). And sometimes it's hard to tell whether a phrase is literal …

Figurative art is based on the shapes of real objects. Figuratively speaking, negotiators succeeded in building a bridge over a wide river in reaching this agreement. Then again, he …

Figurative definition: of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical and not literal.. See examples of FIGURATIVE used in a sentence.

If you use a word or expression in a figurative sense, you use it with a more abstract or imaginative meaning than its ordinary literal one. ...an event that will change your route–in …

1. a. Based on or making use of figures of speech; metaphorical: figurative language. b. Containing many figures of speech; ornate. 2. Represented by a figure or resemblance; …

Definition of figurative adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Rhetoric of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, esp. a metaphor: She used the word "dead'' in a figurative sense to mean "tired.'' Rhetoric characterized by or having figures of …

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.

Of language or meaning: differing from the literal use or sense; metaphorical.

FIGURATIVE meaning: 1 : used with a meaning that is different from the basic meaning and that expresses an idea in an interesting way by using language that usually describes something …