Synonyms: nonliteral, figurative
Definition: (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
Usage: figurative language
Similar words: analogical
Definition: expressing, composed of, or based on an analogy
Usage: the analogical use of a metaphor
Similar words: extended
Definition: beyond the literal or primary sense
Usage: `hot off the press' shows an extended sense of `hot'
Similar words: metaphoric, metaphorical
Definition: expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another
Usage: a metaphorical expression; metaphoric language
Similar words: metonymic, metonymical
Definition: using the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated
Usage: to say `he spent the evening reading Shakespeare' is metonymic because it substitutes the author himself for the author's works
Similar words: poetic
Definition: characterized by romantic imagery
Usage: Turner's vision of the rainbow...was poetic
Similar words: synecdochic, synecdochical
Definition: using the name of a part for that of the whole or the whole for the part; or the special for the general or the general for the special; or the material for the thing made of it
Usage: to use `hand' for `worker' or `ten sail' for `ten ships' or `steel' for `sword' is to use a synecdochic figure of speech
Similar words: tropical
Definition: characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense