Definition

1. Adjective:
   • (Of meaning) Not literal; not representing the most basic, dictionary, or factual meaning of a word or expression. Describes a meaning that is metaphorical, symbolic, or uses figures of speech, rather than a direct, concrete meaning.
   • Involving or characterized by figures of speech. Pertaining to language that uses devices like metaphor, simile, or personification to create a special effect or picture in the reader's or listener's mind.

Usage

• The term nonliteral is used to describe words, phrases, or entire texts whose intended meaning goes beyond the literal definition. It is the opposite of "literal."
• It is commonly applied in discussions of language, literature, poetry, and rhetoric to analyze how meaning is constructed.
• Example Contexts: Analyzing poetry, explaining idioms, understanding metaphors in everyday speech, describing symbolic language.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • When she said she had "butterflies in her stomach," she was using a nonliteral expression to describe nervousness.
  • Poetry is often rich in nonliteral language, requiring the reader to interpret deeper meanings.
  • The phrase "time is money" is a nonliteral statement; it suggests time is valuable, not that it is actual currency.

Advanced Usage

• Nonliteral interpretation: The process of deriving the figurative, intended meaning from a text or utterance, as opposed to a surface-level reading.
  • A nonliteral interpretation of the novel's opening scene reveals it as a metaphor for birth.
• Nonliteral meaning: The figurative sense conveyed by a word or phrase.
  • The nonliteral meaning of "heart of stone" is an unfeeling or cruel nature.

Variants and Related Words

• Figurative (adj): Very similar in meaning to nonliteral; using words in a way that is different from their usual meaning to create a vivid picture or idea. Often used interchangeably.
  • The author's figurative language made the description come alive.
• Metaphorical (adj): Specifically relating to or using metaphor, a common type of nonliteral language.
  • His "journey" through life is a metaphorical one.
• Literal (adj): The direct opposite, meaning taking words in their most basic sense without metaphor or exaggeration.
  • The literal meaning of "break a leg" is to fracture a bone, but its common meaning is a wish for good luck.

Synonyms

• Figurative: Involving a figure of speech; not literal.
• Metaphorical: Characteristic of or relating to metaphor; symbolic.
• Symbolic: Serving as a symbol; representing something else.
• Tropical (rare/technical): In rhetoric, relating to the use of a word in a figurative sense.

Antonyms

• Literal: In accordance with the primary meaning of a word or the explicit facts.
• Concrete: Specific, real, and tangible; not abstract. (While not a direct antonym, it often contrasts with nonliteral abstract meanings.)

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Figure of speech: A word or phrase used in a nonliteral sense to create a rhetorical effect.
  • "It's raining cats and dogs" is a figure of speech.
• Idiom: A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., ). Idioms are a type of nonliteral expression.
• Metaphor: A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable (e.g., ).
• Simile: A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, using or (e.g., ).

Adjective

1. (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
   • figurative language