Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Containing or using allegory: Describes a work of art, story, or description that uses characters, events, or symbols to represent abstract ideas, moral qualities, or political situations beyond the literal meaning.
   • Characteristic of allegory: Having the typical qualities or style of an allegory.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • The film is an allegorical tale about the dangers of totalitarianism. (The film uses its story symbolically to discuss the dangers of totalitarian rule.)
  • Many of her poems are deeply allegorical, with the sea representing freedom. (Her poems often use symbols, like the sea, to stand for abstract concepts.)
  • The painting's allegorical figures of Justice and Mercy are clearly identifiable. (The painting includes personified symbols of Justice and Mercy.)

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• Allegorical interpretation: The act of explaining a text or work as having a hidden symbolic meaning.
  • Scholars often provide an allegorical interpretation of ancient myths.
• Allegorical meaning: The symbolic significance that lies beneath the surface story.
  • The allegorical meaning of the fable is that patience is a virtue.

Variants and Related Words

• Allegory (n): A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one.
  • "Animal Farm" by George Orwell is a famous allegory for the Russian Revolution.
• Allegorically (adv): In an allegorical manner.
  • The novel can be read allegorically.
• Allegorist (n): A person who writes allegories.

Synonyms

• Symbolic: Serving as a symbol of something.
• Figurative: Departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical.
• Representational: Depicting something, especially symbolically.
• Parabolic: Having the form of a parable; allegorical.

Antonyms

• Literal: Taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory.
• Realistic: Representing familiar things in a way that is accurate or true to life.
• Non-representational: Not intended to represent actual objects or subjects.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• An allegory for/of: Used to describe what the allegory represents.
  • The story is widely seen as an allegory for the human condition.
• To read something allegorically: To interpret a text by looking for its symbolic meaning.
  • You can read the poem allegorically to understand its critique of society.

Adjective

1. used in or characteristic of or containing allegory
   • allegorical stories
   • an allegorical painting of Victory leading an army