al·le·gor·i·cal

(ăl′ĭ-gôr′ĭ-kəl, -gŏr′-) also al·le·gor·ic (-ĭk)

adj.

Of, characteristic of, or containing allegory: an allegorical painting of Victory leading an army.

al′le·gor′i·cal·ly adv.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

allegorical

(ˌælɪˈɡɒrɪkəl) or

allegoric

adj

(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) used in, containing, or characteristic of allegory

ˌalleˈgorically adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

al•le•gor•i•cal

(ˌæl ɪˈgɔr ɪ kəl, -ˈgɒr-)

also al`le•gor′ic,

adj.

of the nature of or containing allegory; figurative: an allegorical poem.

[1520–30; < Late Latin allēgoricus (< Greek allēgorikós; see allegory, -ic) + -al¹]

al`le•gor′i•cal•ly, adv.

al`le•gor′i•cal•ness, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

allegorical - used in or characteristic of or containing allegory; "allegorical stories"; "an allegorical painting of Victory leading an army"

allegoric

representative - standing for something else; "the bald eagle is representative of the United States"

allegorical

adjective symbolic, figurative, symbolizing, emblematic, parabolic the allegorical novel 'The Master and Margarita'

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

allégorique

allegorico

allegorisk

allegorical

[ˌælɪˈgɒrɪkəl] ADJ → alegórico

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

allegorical

[ˌælɪˈgɒrɪk^əl] adj → allégorique

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

allegorical

[ˌælɪˈgɒrɪk/əl] allegoric [ˌælɪˈgɒrɪk] adj → allegorico/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Within the past two weeks three landscapes and an allegorical painting had sold for good prices; and under the influence of success he expanded like an opening floweret.

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Zarathustra, then,--this shadowy, allegorical personality, speaking in allegories and parables, and at times not even refraining from relating his own dreams--is a figure we can understand but very imperfectly if we have no knowledge of his creator and counterpart, Friedrich Nietzsche; and it were therefore well, previous to our study of the more abstruse parts of this book, if we were to turn to some authoritative book on Nietzsche's life and works and to read all that is there said on the subject.

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They consisted of an elaborate scenic background set up near the city gate or on the street, with figures from allegorical or traditional history who engaged in some pantomime or declamation, but with very little dramatic dialog, or none.

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But the narrative of Hephaestus binding Here his mother, or how on another occasion Zeus sent him flying for taking her part when she was being beaten, and all the battles of the gods in Homer--these tales must not be admitted into our State, whether they are supposed to have an allegorical meaning or not.

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Sparsit was not a poetical woman; but she took an idea in the nature of an allegorical fancy, into her head.

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Rebecca, Adam thought, as he took off his hat and saluted the pretty panorama,--Rebecca, with her tall slenderness, her thoughtful brow, the fire of young joy in her face, her fillet of dark braided hair, might have been a young Muse or Sibyl; and the flowery hayrack, with its freight of blooming girlhood, might have been painted as an allegorical picture of The Morning of Life.

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All that patient, pale company of queens and princesses, of kings and warriors, of allegorical women, of heroines and statesmen and heathen gods, crowned, helmeted, bare-headed, has run for good off the sea stretching to the last above the tumbling foam their fair, rounded arms; holding out their spears, swords, shields, tridents in the same unwearied, striving forward pose.

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This carriage, or rather house upon wheels, excited the admiration of the whole quarter in which he resided -- it was covered with allegorical paintings, and clouds scattered over with stars.

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It is possible that the preceding conversation is an obscure allegorical allusion to the Fronde, or perhaps an intimation that the Duc was the father of Mordaunt, from Twenty Years After, but a definite interpretation still eludes modern scholars.

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Perhaps, she thought, these things were merely allegorical to him.

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Can'st thou not find a subject more fitting for thy thoughts than thy shoes?" That is what I want to say to you in allegorical language, Barbara.

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The loveliness to which the old warrior alluded was in no degree diminished by his allegorical speech; for the blushes of the maiden who listened covered her burning cheeks till her dark eyes seemed to glow with their reflection; but, after struggling a moment with shame, she laughed, as if unwilling to understand him seriously, and replied in pleasantry:

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