Word.ws English Dictionary

figural

Syllables: fig·ur·alUK/ˈfɪɡ(j)ʊɹəl/US/ˈfɪɡjəɹəl/

figural adjective: representing by means of a figure; emblematic.

Adjective

figural (comparative more figural, superlative most figural)

  1. Representing by means of a figure; emblematic.
    • The counterparts, in the Christian era, to the figural anticipation of Christ in the Old Testament were the deliverer monarchs and leaders of later times […]2007, John Burrow, A History of Histories, Penguin, published 2009, page 185
  2. Figurative, not literal.
  3. (obsolete) Of numbers, describing a geometrical figure.
  4. (obsolete) Pertaining to a figure, shape.
  5. (rare) Pertaining to (human) figures.
    • Some of the Umayyads found themselves charmed by the cultures which they had conquered, so that archaeologists in Palestine and Syria have revealed an astonishing flourishing of Christian-style figural art under their rule.2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, pages 262–3
  6. Figurate.

Forms of figural

comparativemore figural
superlativemost figural

Origin of figural

From Old French figural, from late Latin figūrālis, from figūra (“figure”).

Words formed from figural

Questions about figural

What does figural mean?
Figural means representing by means of a figure; emblematic.
What part of speech is figural?
Figural is an adjective.
How do you pronounce figural?
Figural is pronounced /ˈfɪɡ(j)ʊɹəl/ (UK).

Words near figural in the dictionary

  1. figurabilities
  2. figurability
  3. figurable
  4. figurae
  5. figurae etymologicae
  6. figural
  7. figuralities
  8. figurality
  9. figurally
  10. figurant
  11. figurante

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: figural (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “figural.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/figural. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.