nonfigurative

Meanings

1. 1adjectivenot comparabletechnical

   (of art) showing shapes, colors, or lines rather than recognizable people or objects.

   Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a nonfigurative painting; the style is nonfigurative.

   Patterns

   • nonfigurative art
   • a nonfigurative painting
   • nonfigurative style

   The gallery devoted a whole room to nonfigurative paintings from the 1950s.

   Her later work became completely nonfigurative, just bands of color on canvas.

   Critics praised the nonfigurative sculpture for its bold geometry.

2. 2adjectivenot comparableformalrare

   Not using figures of speech; meant in a plain, literal way.

   Grammar: Formal and rare; usually comes before a noun such as 'language' or 'sense'.

   Patterns

   • nonfigurative language
   • in a nonfigurative sense

   In a nonfigurative sense, the phrase simply means a long journey.

   The legal text uses nonfigurative language throughout.

Common combinations

nonfigurative art

The museum's new wing is filled with nonfigurative art.

purely nonfigurative

His drawings became purely nonfigurative after 1960.

nonfigurative painter

She is best known as a nonfigurative painter.

largely nonfigurative

The collection is largely nonfigurative, with few portraits.

Synonyms and how they differ

abstract

The everyday word for this idea and the safer choice outside art criticism.

nonrepresentational

Very close in meaning, but it stresses that nothing real is being depicted.

geometric

Fits only when the shapes are regular and mathematical, not for loose or organic forms.

Opposites

Word family

nonfiguratively adverb

In a way that avoids recognizable figures or images.

figurative adjective

Showing real people or things, or using language in a metaphorical way.

Commonly confused: nonfigurative or figurative?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “nonfigurative”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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