figurative

adjective5

1. •
   Of use as a metaphor, simile, metonym or other figure of speech, as opposed to literal; using figures.

   • The lovers she seems to pursue with her figurative language in fact retreat under the barrage of similes, metaphors and fables. — 2005
2. •
   Metaphorically so called.
3. •
   With many figures of speech.
4. •
   Representing forms recognisable in life and clearly derived from real object sources, in contrast to abstract art.

   • They belonged to a nation dedicated to the figurative arts, and they wrote for a public familiar with painted form. — 1875
5. •
   Emblematic, symbolic; representative, exemplative.

   • This, they will say, was figurative, and served, by God's appointment, but for a time, to shadow out the true glory of a more divine sanctity. — 1594