Proverbial vs Figurative - What's the difference?
proverbial | figurative |
Of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, , fable, or fairy tale.
* 1947 , (
Widely known; famous; stereotypical.
(euphemistic) Used to replace a word that might be considered unacceptable in a particular situation, when using a well-known phrase.
(euphemistic) The groin or the testicles.
Metaphorical or tropical, as opposed to literal; using figures; as of the use of "cats and dogs" in the phrase "It's raining cats and dogs".
* '>citation
Metaphorically so called
With many figures of speech
Emblematic; representative
* Hooker
* J. A. Symonds
As adjectives the difference between proverbial and figurative
is that proverbial is of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, , fable, or fairy tale while figurative is metaphorical or tropical, as opposed to literal; using figures; as of the use of "cats and dogs" in the phrase "it's raining cats and dogs".As a noun proverbial
is (euphemistic) used to replace a word that might be considered unacceptable in a particular situation, when using a well-known phrase.proverbial
English
Adjective
(en adjective)transcript):
- Doris: You're making me feel like the proverbial stepmother.
- I grew up in a prefab house on Main Street in 1950s suburbia, the second and last child of a proverbial nuclear family.
Noun
(en noun)- I think we should be prepared in case the proverbial hits the fan.
figurative
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- 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.
- They belonged to a nation dedicated to the figurative arts, and they wrote for a public familiar with painted form.