figuratively

adverb

fig·​u·​ra·​tive·​ly ˈfi-g(y)ə-rə-tiv-lē 

: in a figurative way: such as

a

: with a meaning that is metaphorical rather than literal

Speaking of panic, I recently ran into (figuratively, not literally) a friend who was ranting about giant "bees" digging holes in his lawn.

—Ron Kujawski

Poor small-town America. During the last gasps of this fevered election, pollsters, zealous campaign foot soldiers and reporters are kicking down its doors, figuratively speaking …

—Doug Colligan

b

: in a way intended to represent the form or figure of something or someone having objective reality : in a way that is not purely abstract

Franz Kline, who had always painted figuratively, made his breakthrough in 1949 when he looked at one of his sketches in a Bell-Opticon magnifier, and saw the rough, thrusting horizontals and verticals that became the basis of his new abstract style.

—Calvin Tomkins

Examples of figuratively in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Framed as empowering, groundbreaking, and long overdue, the mission triggered a wave of celebration, skepticism, and hot takes on feminism, fame, and who gets to literally and figuratively take up space. —Gemma Allen, Forbes.com, 20 Apr. 2025

Floyd spends most of the action stuck underground, a predicament rendered figuratively by having the actor Jeremy Jordan confined to a chaise longue–esque construction integrated into the rest of the rocky stage. —Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025

The Oilers are limping toward the playoffs, figuratively and literally. —Daniel Nugent-Bowman, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2025

And the jersey has the DNA, literally and figuratively, of the near crippling anxiety felt by Maris in the face of a very vocal pushback against his quest, first in competing neck-and-neck with the beloved Mickey Mantle for the record and then in favor of Ruth. —Michael Salfino, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above