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figurative

[fig-yer-uh-tiv]

Origin

adjective

of the nature of or involving a figure of speech, especially a metaphor; metaphorical and not literal, as in figurative language.

metaphorically so called: His remark was a figurative boomerang.

abounding in or fond of figures of speech: Elizabethan poetry is highly figurative.

representing by means of a figure or likeness, as in drawing or sculpture.

representing by a figure or emblem; emblematic.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin figūrātīvus (see figurate, -ive); replacing Middle English figuratif < Middle French

Related forms

fig·ur·a·tive·ly, adverb

fig·ur·a·tive·ness, noun

non·fig·ur·a·tive, adjective

non·fig·ur·a·tive·ly, adverb

non·fig·ur·a·tive·ness, noun

EXPAND

sem·i·fig·ur·a·tive, adjective

sem·i·fig·ur·a·tive·ly, adverb

sem·i·fig·ur·a·tive·ness, noun

un·fig·ur·a·tive, adjective

un·fig·ur·a·tive·ly, adverb

un·fig·ur·a·tive·ness, noun

COLLAPSE

Can be confused: figuratively, literally, virtually (see usage note at literally).

Synonyms
3. ornate, ornamental, flowery, elaborate, florid, grandiloquent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To figurative

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Figurative is always a great word to know.

So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

figurative (ˈfɪɡərətɪv)

—*adj*
1.	of the nature of, resembling, or involving a figure of speech; not literal; metaphorical
2.	using or filled with figures of speech
3.	representing by means of an emblem, likeness, figure, etc
4.	(in painting, sculpture, etc) of, relating to, or characterized by the naturalistic representation of the external world

'figuratively

—*adv*

'figurativeness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

figurative

late 14c., from Fr. figuratif, from L.L. figurativus, from figurare (see figure). Of speech, language, etc., "involving figures of speech," from 1845. Related: Figuratively

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Matching Quote

"In comparing these two writers, he [Samuel Johnson] used this expression: "that there was as great a difference between them as between a man who knew how a watch was made, and a man who could tell the hour by looking on the dial-plate." This was a short and a figurative statement of his distinction between drawing characters of nature and characters only of manners, but I cannot help being of opinion, that the neat watches of Fielding are as well constructed as the large clocks of Richardson, and that his dial plates are brighter."

-James Boswell

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