metaphorically

English

Etymology

From metaphorical +‎ -ly.

Adverb

metaphorically (comparative more metaphorically, superlative most metaphorically)

2. (manner) In a metaphorical manner; not literally; by means of metaphor.

   Synonym: nonliterally

   He conveyed his teachings metaphorically.

   • 1872, George Eliot, Middlemarch, I.5:

     […] as, for example, in the present case of throwing herself, metaphorically speaking, at Mr Casaubon's feet, and kissing his unfashionable shoe-ties as if he were a Protestant Pope.

4. (as a sentence adverb) Used to draw attention that what follows is a metaphor, not to be taken literally

   Metaphorically, he was crushed.

Antonyms

• literally

Coordinate terms

• as it were
• figuratively
• metonymically
• synecdochically

 

Translations

in a metaphoric manner

• Arabic: مَجَازِيًّا (majāziyyan)
• Armenian: փոխաբերաբար (hy) (pʻoxaberabar)
• Catalan: metafòricament (ca)
• French: métaphoriquement (fr)
• Galician: metaforicamente
• German: metaphorisch (de)
• Italian: metaforicamente (it)
• Polish: w przenośni, metaforycznie
• Portuguese: metaforicamente
• Spanish: metafóricamente (es)
• Swedish: metaforiskt (sv)