Allegorical


consisting of or pertaining to ; of the nature of or containing ; figurative:
an allegorical poem; an allegorical meaning.
Contemporary Examples

Her sensuous, penetrating paintings present an allegorical realm, where beauty is eternal and dreams come true.
Julie Heffernan’s Earthly Delights Paul Laster June 24, 2009

It was around this time that the allegorical artistic genre of the Danse Macabre, or “Dance of the Death,” became popular.
Ebola Rages in West Africa, Reigniting Humanity’s Oldest Fear: The Plague Scott Bixby August 3, 2014

In an allegorical movie about going to “the zone” to get to “the room” where all your wishes come true.
Geoff Dyer Takes on Andrei Tarkovsky’s Film ‘Stalker’ in ‘Zona’ Chris Wallace February 24, 2012

That the allegorical nature of Red Moon speaks to so many issues may be what contributes to an ending where things fall apart.
The Werewolf Novel as Post-9/11 Political Allegory? Roxane Gay May 15, 2013

Historical Examples

And Camons, as observed in the preface, has twice asserted that his machinery is allegorical.
The Lusiad Lus de Cames

Their truck has on it what they call “an allegorical figure.”
Back Home Eugene Wood

They were not caricatures, as one might suppose, but rural scenes à la Watteau, and allegorical subjects.
‘Phiz’ (Hablot Knight Browne), a Memoir. Fred. G. Kitton

That is what I want to say to you in allegorical language, Barbara.
Poor Folk Fyodor Dostoyevsky

His allegorical poem, The Golden Targe, is of a more extended range, and displays more creative power.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 1 Henry Hallam

But such legends were considered by most commentators as allegorical fables.
The Coming Race Edward Bulwer Lytton

adjective
used in, containing, or characteristic of allegory
adj.

1520s, from French allégorique, from Latin allegoricus, from Greek allegorikos (see allegory). Earlier form was allegoric (late 14c.). Related: Allegorically.

Read Also:

  • Allegorically

    consisting of or pertaining to ; of the nature of or containing ; figurative: an allegorical poem; an allegorical meaning. Historical Examples In the preceding paragraph, agreeably to this truth, we had allegorically narrated the transfiguration of Fear into holy Awe. The Complete Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge So the city […]

  • Allegory

    a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another. a symbolical narrative: the allegory of Piers Plowman. (def 3). Contemporary Examples The painting is at the Metropolitan Museum, which considers it an allegory of the sense of sight. Juan Do Paints […]

  • Allegorize

    to make into an ; narrate . to understand in an sense; interpret . to use . Historical Examples To allegorize life with a masquerade, and represent mankind generally as masquers. The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 109, November, 1866 Various To this vessel the Persian poets often refer, and allegorize it in different ways. […]

  • Allegorist

    a person who uses or writes allegory. Historical Examples To the allegorist, the fable or plot in epic or dramatic poetry was only a rind to cover attractively the kernel of truth. Rhetoric and Poetry in the Renaissance Donald Lemen Clark Such a story tempts the allegorist, and indeed the main drift of its meaning […]

  • Allegoristic

    writing or using allegory; interpreting in an allegorical sense.


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