figurative Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
    nonliteral.
    • figurative language
  2. adjective satellite consisting of or forming human or animal figures
    figural.
    • a figural design
    • the figurative art of the humanistic tradition"- Herbert Read

WordNet

Fig"ur*a*tive adjective
Etymology
L. figurativus: cf. F. figuratif. See Figurative.
Definitions
  1. Representing by a figure, or by resemblance; typical; representative.
    This, they will say, was figurative, and served, by God's appointment, but for a time, to shadow out the true glory of a more divine sanctity. Hooker.
  2. Used in a sense that is tropical, as a metaphor; not literal; -- applied to words and expressions.
  3. Ambounding in figures of speech; flowery; florid; as, a highly figurative description.
  4. Relating to the representation of form or figure by drawing, carving, etc. See Figure, n., 2.
    They belonged to a nation dedicated to the figurative arts, and they wrote for a public familiar with painted form. J. A. Symonds.
    -- Fig"ur*a*tive*ly, adv. -- Fig"ur*a*tive*ness, n.

Webster 1913