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# figurative

«figurative» in Mova's school dictionary: **Used with a meaning different from the usual…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (figurative)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Used with a meaning different from the usual, word-for-word one, to make a picture in the mind: «a heart of gold» is figurative. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#m1)

2) (art) Showing real people or things that you can recognise, not abstract shapes. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In English lessons «figurative language» means similes, metaphors, personification and idioms. It tells the reader not to take the words literally. Phrases: figurative language, figurative meaning, in a figurative sense.

### examples

- «It's raining cats and dogs» is figurative language. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#x1)
- Poets use figurative language to paint pictures with words. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#x2)
- «He has a heart of stone» has a figurative meaning: he is unkind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#x3)
- The teacher asked us to find three figurative phrases in the poem. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#x4)
- She paints figurative pictures of people at the beach. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#x5)
- The figurative meaning of «break the ice» is to start a friendly chat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/#x6)

### note

Opposite: literal (the plain, word-for-word meaning). Adverb: figuratively. Related noun: figure of speech. A common trap: «I literally died laughing» is really figurative.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «figurative» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/figurative/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.