nonliteral

Definition of nonliteralnext

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of nonliteral Jesus, who speaks in parables, not in dicta or dogmas, provides us with a primary instance of the power of the nonliteral tale. Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026 In addition, neurodivergent women, such as those with autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, may be excluded from whisper networks because information is often shared using indirect or nonliteral language. Carrie Ann Johnson, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2023 Thirsty, even, in its most nonliteral meaning. Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2021 The New York Times is concerned about its subscribers’ intolerance for opposing views, not about nonliteral terminology about opposing pages. Nicholas Clairmont, Washington Examiner, 29 Apr. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for nonliteral
Adjective
  • Winter Park, Florida The area around Winter Park, Florida is a veritable lake oasis.
    Carolanne Griffith Roberts, Southern Living, 25 Apr. 2026
  • While the life term was mandated under federal law, the judge described it as richly deserved for a man who has lived a veritable lifetime of crime.
    Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 20 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Schools now feverishly compete to prepare graduates with simplistic educational remedies driven by competitive branding agendas, providing symbolic curriculum overhauls as recruiting and job-placement signals, regardless of whether such courses share a coherent body of core knowledge.
    Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
  • This growing reliance on such frameworks underscores the industry’s shift from symbolic commitments toward practical implementation of due diligence and credible sustainability practices.
    Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 29 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • Meis moves from the Baroque virtuosity of Rubens’s study of a drunken mythological figure, through the jagged modernist puzzle of Marc’s allegorical animals, to Mitchell’s painterly abstractions and their flickering landscape allusions.
    Jed Perl, The New York Review of Books, 4 Apr. 2026
  • It has also been viewed by many as an allegorical commentary on first century Christianity and Rome, and has been seen as an impending apocalyptic prophecy by generations ever since.
    City News Service, Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Nonliteral.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/nonliteral. Accessed 3 May. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster