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4 dictionary results for: figurative
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
fig·ur·a·tive
[fig-yer-uh-tiv] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[fig-yer-uh-tiv] Pronunciation Key –adjective
| 1. | of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, esp. a metaphor; metaphorical; not literal: a figurative expression. |
| 2. | metaphorically so called: His remark was a figurative boomerang. |
| 3. | abounding in or fond of figures of speech: Elizabethan poetry is highly figurative. |
| 4. | representing by means of a figure or likeness, as in drawing or sculpture. |
| 5. | representing by a figure or emblem; emblematic. |
—Related forms
fig·ur·a·tive·ly, adverb
fig·ur·a·tive·ness, noun
—Synonyms 3. ornate, ornamental, flowery, elaborate, florid, grandiloquent.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| fig·u·ra·tive
(fĭg'yər-ə-tĭv) Pronunciation Key
adj.
fig'u·ra·tive·ly adv., fig'u·ra·tive·ness n. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| figurative | |
adjective | |
| 1. | (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech; "figurative language" [ant: literal] |
| 2. | consisting of or forming human or animal figures; "a figural design"; "the figurative art of the humanistic tradition"- Herbert Read [syn: figural] |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
figurative
Fig"ur*ate\, a. [L. figuratus, p. p. of figurare. See Figure.]1. Of a definite form or figure. Plants are all figurate and determinate, which inanimate bodies are not. --Bacon. 2. Figurative; metaphorical. [Obs.] --Bale. 3. (Mus.) Florid; figurative; involving passing discords by the freer melodic movement of one or more parts or voices in the harmony; as, figurate counterpoint or descant. Figurate counterpoint or descant (Mus.), that which is not simple, or in which the parts do not move together tone for tone, but in which freer movement of one or more parts mingles passing discords with the harmony; -- called also figural, figurative, and figured counterpoint or descant (although the term figured is more commonly applied to a bass with numerals written above or below to indicate the other notes of the harmony). Figurate numbers (Math.), numbers, or series of numbers, formed from any arithmetical progression in which the first term is a unit, and the difference a whole number, by taking the first term, and the sums of the first two, first three, first four, etc., as the successive terms of a new series, from which another may be formed in the same manner, and so on, the numbers in the resulting series being such that points representing them are capable of symmetrical arrangement in different geometrical figures, as triangles, squares, pentagons, etc. Note: In the following example, the two lower lines are composed of figurate numbers, those in the second line being triangular, and represented thus: -- . 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. . . . 1, 3, 6, 10, etc. . . . . . . . etc. 1, 4, 10, 20, etc . . . . . . . . . . . .
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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