How to Use figurative in a Sentence

figurative

adjective
Definition of figurativenext
Synonyms for figurativenext
  • Notre Dame threw the first figurative punch of the game.
    — The New York Times, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2023
  • The figurative painter Chaz Guest has fans in high places.
    — New York Times, 2 Feb. 2022
  • The creator of the art is detached from it the moment the figurative pen lid clicks shut.
    — Howard Murphy, Rolling Stone, 20 Oct. 2023
  • The word took on a more figurative sense in the 19th century.
    — Suzannah Showler, WIRED, 3 Oct. 2023
  • But at the start of The Rings of Power, most of the Elvish elite is intent on placing its figurative head in the proverbial sand.
    — Daniel Bessner, The New Republic, 7 Sep. 2022
  • One of the paintings that graced Vidal’s study was a figurative work by his friend Rudolf Nureyev.
    — Christopher Bollen, Town & Country, 8 June 2022
  • But after four years cooped up in a monastery, Mary runs away and heads straight for (figurative) sin city.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2023
  • So, in a figurative sense, the aquarium is killing two birds with one stone.
    — Christine Condon, baltimoresun.com, 22 Feb. 2022
  • With the book, Canales flung open a door and let people peer into the figurative skeletons in his closet.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 Jan. 2024
  • Pegues is more concerned with his team’s lack of figurative fight.
    — Brett Dawson, The Courier-Journal, 2 Mar. 2022
  • The venture, though, which was financed through a loan, came at a steep cost, in literal and figurative terms.
    — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Sep. 2023
  • Teddy Roosevelt is astride Central Park West one day and in the (figurative) basement the next.
    — Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 13 Mar. 2022
  • And between him and the finish line were all kinds of bumps, both figurative and literal.
    — Julie Jag, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Jan. 2022
  • But not knowing my place has come at a cost, both in literal and figurative terms.
    — Time, 1 Aug. 2023
  • But now the iconic gag (both literal and figurative) is on its last breath.
    — Vulture, 7 Nov. 2023
  • Her tiny pink bandana acts as a literal and figurative tie to her past.
    — Courtney Howard, Variety, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Their first and only job was as a literal and figurative background player, setting the stage for the star soloist to dazzle the crowd.
    — Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Nov. 2022
  • Still the trip to Saudi Arabia so far has been marked by the figurative chess match and literal fist bump between the two leaders.
    — Tyler Pager, BostonGlobe.com, 16 July 2022
  • The figurative language is one of many that helps make comparisons.
    — Olivia Munson, USA TODAY, 23 June 2023
  • But, the figurative, and in some cases literal, parent show still frames the world the new generation steals kegs and go to raves in.
    — Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 22 Jan. 2023
  • Most of my work is portraits and figurative work, but not in a traditional style.
    — Lisa Deaderick, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Apr. 2022
  • Only now is the literal and figurative rubber starting to hit the road.
    — Nathan Rosenberg, Fortune, 19 Dec. 2022
  • Funny thing: The Rangers are liable to be holding their figurative breath during the imaging, too.
    — Evan Grant, Dallas News, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The question is both literal and figurative for the Jayhawks.
    — Dallas News, 26 Jan. 2023
  • He is known for his figurative art and his subjects, who needed to make a very large and uncertain commitment of their time.
    — Manori Ravindran, Variety, 2 Feb. 2023
  • By the end, at least one character has faced his demons, literal and figurative.
    — Maya Phillips, New York Times, 24 May 2023
  • The dining room serves as a literal and figurative entry way to the charity.
    — John Kelly, Washington Post, 13 Nov. 2022
  • And now that figurative rag is set to be artificially doused all over again.
    — Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 4 May 2023
  • One of his high-school friends was Jackson Pollock, who in the mid-1940s sharply criticized Guston’s figurative work.
    — Peter Saenger, WSJ, 22 Apr. 2022
  • The start of the game was delayed by 20 minutes to wait out the weather, but once the precipitation stopped, rays of sunshine in the literal and figurative sense shone from the heavens.
    — Matthew Roberson, Hartford Courant, 7 Aug. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'figurative.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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