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metaphorical

UK/ˌmɛtəˈfɒɹɪkəl/US/ˌmɛtəˈfoɹɪkəl/
adjectiveB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,172 of 15,258leans written

Metaphorical means meant as an image rather than literally. In a metaphorical sense.

People say it when they have been taken at their word and did not want to be. A metaphorical wall is not a wall, and saying so is usually a small defeat.

George Cruikshank · Public domain

Definitions of metaphorical

  1. 1adjectivemetaphoricalMeant as an image rather than literally.B2+

    “The fire was metaphorical and the panic was not.”

metaphorical is a quality.

Where it comes from

From metaphoric + -al.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

metaphorical in the wild

  • A parable is a type of metaphorical analogy.

    Parable

  • Relics and locations carry baraka based on their literal or metaphorical proximity to a holy person.

    Barakah

  • The Greek name means Flower-City or in a more metaphorical sense flowering, expanding city.

    Anthoupolis

  • Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it.

    Glossary of shapes with metaphorical names

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • metaphorically