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Definitions

figurative

[fig-yer-uh-tiv] / ˈfɪg yər ə tɪv /


Example Sentences

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And the last thing we need is a world without mothers — literal or figurative.

From Salon • May 10, 2026

Harmonia Rosales’ Black figurative paintings combine Eurocentric artistic traditions with African diasporic cosmologies as a way to course-correct the historical erasure of Black images from classical narratives.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

He also paid for windows with geometric designs rather than traditional figurative scenes, in line with Islamic rulings against the drawings of creatures.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2026

"The most important centre of Islamic civilisation in the 15th century endorsed figurative art," he added.

From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026

Paintings of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries are still entirely figurative; Kandinsky’s first abstract painting did not emerge until 1910.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall




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