nonliteral

Definitions of nonliteral

1. adjective

   (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech
   synonyms: figurative

   analogical

   expressing, composed of, or based on an analogy

   extended

   beyond the literal or primary sense

   metaphoric, metaphorical

   expressing one thing in terms normally denoting another

   metonymic, metonymical

   using the name of one thing for that of another with which it is closely associated

   poetic

   characterized by romantic imagery

   synecdochic, synecdochical

   using the name of a part for that of the whole or the whole for the part; or the special for the general or the general for the special; or the material for the thing made of it

   tropical

   characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense

   rhetorical

   given to rhetoric, emphasizing style at the expense of thought