Figurative means meant as an image rather than in the plain sense. A figurative expression, figurative language, in the figurative sense.
It is the opposite of literal, and most of what anybody says is figurative without either party noticing. In art it means the opposite of abstract, so figurative painting shows recognisable things.
1adjectivefigurativeMeant as an image rather than in the plain sense.
“When he said he'd die for a cup of tea, he was speaking in a figurative sense.”
figurative is a quality.
Middle French figuratif comes from Latin figura, a shape or figure.
Middle French
figuratif
English, today
figurative
From Middle French figuratif.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA