figurative

Speech parts

1. figurative - Adjective

2. figurative - Adjective Satellite

Meaning

Representing by a figure, or by resemblance; typical; representative.

Used in a sense that is tropical, as a metaphor; not literal; -- applied to words and expressions.

Abounding in figures of speech; flowery; florid; as, a highly figurative description.

Relating to the representation of form or figure by drawing, carving, etc. See Figure, n., 2.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related terms

Phrases with the word

Examples

We are all hungry and thirsty for concrete images. Abstract art will have been good for one thing: to restore its exact virginity to figurative art. Salvador Dalí

How happy I would be if I could give figurative expression to the unconscious feeling that often murmurs so softly and sweetly within me. Paula Modersohn-Becker

Place (or put) a spider on top of a mountain, it will only try to catch flies; alas, they are many those who, in the figurative meaning, have spider's eyes. African Spir

I often told the fanatics of realism that there is no such thing as realism in art: it only exists in the mind of the observer. Art is a symbol, a thing conjuring up reality in our mental image. That is why I don't see any contradiction between abstract and figurative art either. Antoni Tàpies

I'm a failed poet. Reading poetry helps me to see the world differently, and I try to infuse my prose with figurative language, which goes against the trend in fiction. Jesmyn Ward

Sculpture is based on the abstract of the planes and volumes that determine the forms, not their figurative value. Umberto Boccioni

Close letter words and terms