literally

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Figurative use of language
allegorically
allusion
anthropomorphic
anthropomorphism
anthropomorphize
double meaning
fig
figurative
figure of speech
idiom
metaphorical
metonymic
mixed metaphor
non-literal
non-metaphorical
so to speakidiom
speak
symbol
trope
unironic

Examples of figuratively

figuratively
It does this both figuratively (by rekindling interest in it) and literally, by organising concerts, releasing records, distributing those releases and other merchandise.
In this sense, the two ideas (nation and empire) were inextricably linked, literally and figuratively.
Utilized predominantly figuratively, in the vocabulary of cultural studies, the term ' ' adoption' ' designates processes of incorporation at work in colonization.
The voice is thus, literally and figuratively, disembodied.
The other homograph, however, is one of those slippery words with meanings that slide into each other and then become figuratively extended.
Only occasionally does one singer move outside of the performance plane to take centre stage, either literally or figuratively.
Yet these fantasies return forcefully in her fiction, often "haunted" both literally and figuratively by the maternal voice.
Figuratively speaking, an event corresponds to a word, for example, a noun, a verb, an adjective, and so on.
The house is literally and figuratively a window to the presence of the qualities of a place and the consciousness of inhabiting the land.
Francis may have seen himself as the crusading warrior knight, but he was hostage (literally and figuratively) to the march of political and dynastic interest.
Technology is already "under our skin" (both figuratively and literally) and the future only promises more interface at the micro-, nano-, and cellular levels.
We argue that this development in the ability to interpret idioms figuratively is due to normal development and regular language acquisition.
Our own embededness as scholars in the space and time we share with others, whether literally, figuratively, virtually, imaginatively, should cause us to be reflexive.
These explorers were pioneers, literally in his case, but also figuratively because they brought new dimensions to exploration.
The two male protagonists retreat into a darkened interior, darkened both figuratively and metaphorically.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.