(Of paintings, art, etc.) showing people, animals and objects as they really look.
Departing from a literal use of words; metaphorical.
Man in their view is actually, and in no figurative sense, akin to the beasts.
It was an abstract of Christian doctrine in a vague and figurative way.
in no figurative sense
doctrine in a vague and figurative way
Symbolic
Imaginative
Literal
Non symbolic
Figuratively