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figurative

[fig-yer-uh-tiv] / ˈfɪg yər ə tɪv /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

And the last thing we need is a world without mothers — literal or figurative.

From Salon • May 10, 2026

The Dunlap broadside was a broadside in a figurative sense as well as a literal one, blasting its message like cannons fired from the side of a warship.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

In the figurative paintings of Veronica Fernandez’s first solo exhibition, “Prey,” the artist’s childhood is recalled through dreamlike and fantastical scenes, with memories filtered through experience and emotion.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

"The most important centre of Islamic civilisation in the 15th century endorsed figurative art," he added.

From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026

Paintings of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are still entirely figurative; Kandinsky’s first abstract painting did not emerge until 1910.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall




Vocabulary lists containing figurative


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