metaphorically

adverb

met·​a·​phor·​i·​cal·​ly ˌme-tə-ˈfȯr-i-k(ə-)lē 

-ˈfär-

: in a metaphorical or figurative sense rather than a literal sense : by using a metaphor

At the center of every encryption system is a secret number or mathematical operation, metaphorically referred to as a key.

—Peter Wayner

At a typical event, he comes crashing onstage, delivers a macho statement of intent, metaphorically flexes his muscles, then roars away.

—Terry McCarthy

They settled in Somerville, Mass., next door to Cambridge but metaphorically across the tracks.

—Laura Shapiro

Examples of metaphorically in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

If sentences can be broken, literally and metaphorically, by the imprisoned themselves then the state’s jurisdiction, a favored term of legal power play, has been breached. —Amir Hussain june 6, Literary Hub, 6 June 2025

This feels like the kind of team that could trade for Carlos Beltrán at the deadline, metaphorically speaking. —Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 2 June 2025

The answer so far, metaphorically speaking, is like taking a Mike Tyson punch. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 May 2025

The ink of the Emancipation Proclamation was still metaphorically wet, and yet already, Black women were being told to wait — first for race to be solved, then for class, and only then, maybe, for gender. —Jack Hill, Baltimore Sun, 17 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1534, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for metaphorically

• allegorically
• rhetorically