metaphorical
meta·phor·ical/ˌmɛtəˈfoɹɪkəl/adjective
metaphorical is spelled M-E-T-A-P-H-O-R-I-C-A-L: 12 letters and 3 syllables (meta·phor·ical). It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, metaphorical means “Pertaining to or characterized by a metaphor; figurative; symbolic” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in metaphorical?
| Letters | 12: M-E-T-A-P-H-O-R-I-C-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: meta·phor·ical |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 25,367th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is metaphorical?
Metaphorical appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 25,367th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce metaphorical?
- UK /ˌmɛtəˈfɒɹɪkəl/
- US /ˌmɛtəˈfoɹɪkəl/
- US [ˌmɛɾ.əˈfoɹ.ɪ.kɫ̩]
Metaphorical has 3 syllables, split meta·phor·ical in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-metaphorical.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of metaphorical
- more metaphorical comparative
- most metaphorical superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does metaphorical mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Pertaining to or characterized by a metaphor; figurative; symbolic.
metaphorical answer
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate metaphorical?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of metaphorical: metaph..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Metaphorical in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pertaining to a metaphor:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | métaphorique, figuré |
| German | metaphorisch |
| Portuguese | metafórico |
| Spanish | metafórico |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does metaphorical come from?
From metaphoric + -al.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).