figurative

4 definitions • 2 examples

(of words and phrases) used not with their basic meaning but with a more imaginative meaning, in order to create a special effect:

Of course, she was using the term "massacre" in the figurative sense.

(of a painting, drawing, etc.) representing something as it really looks, rather than in an abstract way

(of words and phrases) used not with their basic meaning but to suggest part of that meaning:

literal and figurative meanings

Figurative art is based on the shapes of real objects.