#figurative

• Abyss / Chasm — A deep chasm, gulf, or large marine depression whose depth seems immeasurable. Figuratively, the term denotes a psychological void, a profound state of crisis, a complete misunderstanding, or a vast and unbridgeable gap between two ideas, concepts, or social statuses.
• Abstractionism — An avant-garde art movement that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century, characterized by the refusal to faithfully represent visible reality and the elimination of figurative forms. It places the pure language of geometric shapes, lines, textures, and colors at the center of the creative act, viewing them as autonomous vehicles for conveying emotional states or complex metaphysical concepts.
• Abstractionist — A visual artist (painter, sculptor) who creates in the spirit of abstractionism, abandoning figurative elements in favor of pure forms; (as an adjective) belonging to abstractionism, relating to the creations, techniques, or manifestations specific to non-figurative art.
• Female abstractionist — A female visual artist (painter, sculptor) whose work falls within the parameters of non-figurative art, eliminating the representation of the visible world; (as an adjective) feminine form for manifestations, techniques, schools, or aesthetic trends that promote the exclusive use of pure shapes, lines, and colors.
• Abstractism — A doctrinal, artistic, and philosophical movement manifested predominantly in the visual arts of the 20th century, characterized by the deliberate rejection of figurative representation and the three-dimensional illusion of reality. It promotes the idea that geometric shapes, lines, and pure colors can express a spiritual or emotional reality superior to the objective one.
• Hagiographer — An author or writer specialized in composing the lives of saints or religious texts dedicated to martyrs and sacred church figures. In a broader, structural, and secular sense, the term applies to a biographer who displays an exaggerated, uncritical, and adulatory admiration for the subject, idealizing their actions and eliminating their flaws.
• Airs — The plural form for the noun aier (air); layers of air, skies, or repeated breezes of wind. In a figurative, colloquial, and modern pejorative sense (often correlated with the phrase 'aiere în cap'), it designates exaggerated pretensions, manifestations of vain pride, arrogance, conceit, or affected, artificial behavior adopted by a person to appear superior.
• Allegorical — Containing an allegory or belonging to it; expressed through images, symbols, extended metaphors, or personifications that hide a profound moral or philosophical meaning, different from the literal sense of the words or plastic representations. In criticism, it describes a mode of artistic coding where visual or narrative elements structurally correspond to a parallel system of abstract ideas.
• Unctuous — Having the consistency, appearance, or properties of an ointment; unctuous, greasy, fatty to the touch. In a figurative sense, the term describes a flattering, hypocritical, or overly humble person in behavior, who tries to gain someone's favor through artificial pleasantries.
• To feed — To provide someone with or to procure the food necessary to sustain life and organism activity; by extension, in technology, to supply a machine, engine, or structural system with fuel, energy, raw materials, or data required for operation. Figuratively, it means to maintain, stimulate, or keep alive a state of mind, a feeling, a discussion, or a tense situation.
• Tawny owl — A term borrowed from Italian or used as a rare loanword in ornithology to designate the tawny owl (Strix aluco), a medium-sized nocturnal bird of prey in the family Strigidae, featuring large dark eyes and a brownish-gray plumage that provides perfect camouflage on tree bark. Figuratively, in Italian and occasionally in literary slang, the term describes a dull, dazed, simple-minded, or easily fooled person.
• Amalgam — An alloy formed by combining mercury with another metal (such as gold, silver, zinc, or tin), historically used in extractive metallurgy and dentistry for fillings; (figuratively) a confused, heterogeneous, and mismatched mixture of different elements, ideas, or feelings.
• To pawn — The action of giving or leaving a movable asset as a pawn (pledge) to secure a monetary loan; to pawn or pledge a valuable object. Figuratively, the term describes sacrificing, compromising, or endangering an abstract and valuable thing (such as the future, honor, or freedom) for immediate advantage.
• To amputate — To cut off, remove, or surgically resect a limb, an extremity of the body, or a diseased or traumatized organ segment, aiming to save the patient's life or prevent the spread of gangrene; by literary or figurative extension, to drastically reduce, curtail, diminish, or suppress an important part of a text, budget, right, or conceptual structure.
• To anchor — To secure a ship or boat to the water bed using an anchor to prevent its movement caused by wind or currents; to anchor. In construction and engineering, the act of rigidly binding a structure, pole, or machine to a stable support using cables or rods. Figuratively, it means to firmly establish oneself in a place, an idea, or a social/cultural context.
• Antediluvian — Existing or occurring before the biblical flood; antediluvian. In a geological sense, it refers to archaic periods prior to major aquatic or glacial cataclysms; in current language, the term is used almost exclusively in a figurative or ironic way to describe an object, an idea, or a mentality that is extremely old, old-fashioned, primitive, or outdated by modern realities.
• Antediluvian — Originating or dating from the period before the biblical flood; antedeluvian. In a strict geological sense, the term refers to archaic epochs characterized by different climatic structures; in everyday language, it is used figuratively, pejoratively, or ironically to describe an extremely old, primitive mentality, object, technology, or idea completely outdated by the evolution of modern society.
• Antipode — A place, geographical point, or region on the Earth's surface located exactly at the intersection of a straight line passing through the center of the Earth, being diametrically opposite to another reference point; also, in a figurative sense, it describes a person, idea, trait, or concept that is in total, radical, and structural opposition to something else.
• Wingspan — The linear distance between the tips of the open wings of a bird or an airplane; (figurative sense) scope, scale, major importance, complexity, or outstanding intellectual capacity of an action, a project, or a remarkable personality.
• Grabbed — Having been grabbed, seized, or firmly caught; figuratively and colloquially, it describes a person (specifically a woman) who suddenly displays states of nervousness, whims, tantrums, or impulsive, unpredictable, and strange reactions, often acting under the influence of a sudden urge without any apparent logic.