Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FIG'U-RA-TIVE, a. [Fr. figuratif, from figure.]

1. Representing something else; representing, by resemblance; typical. 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. Hooker.
2. Representing by resemblance; not literal or direct. A figurative expression, is one in which the words are used in a sense different from that in which they are ordinarily used; as, Slander, / Whose edge is sharper than the sword. Shak.
3. Abounding with figures of speech; as, a description highly figurative.