allegorical
Representing deeper meanings
Allegorical describes something that uses characters, events, or images to represent abstract ideas or moral principles.
An allegorical story operates on two levels—the literal narrative and the deeper meaning it symbolizes: Animal Farm is an allegorical critique of Soviet totalitarianism.
The adjective applies to literature, art, and film where surface details stand in for larger themes.
Representing through imagery
- emblematicServing as a symbol
- representativeOne who acts for another
- parabolicShaped like a conic section
- metaphoricalSymbolic rather than literal
archetypal · suggestive · allusive · significative · semiotic · connotative · veiled · cryptic
Moral tale with animals
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- legendUnverified traditional tale
- taleSpoken or written narrative
epic · saga · folklore · mythos · chronicle · morality play · Pilgrim's Progress · Animal Farm
Concerning right conduct
- lessonUnit of teaching
- teachingProfession of instructing others
- instructiveServing to teach
- edifyingIntellectually or morally uplifting
cautionary · wisdom · doctrine · enlightenment · pedagogical · exemplary · prescriptive · admonitory
figurative
Representing through imagery
- emblematicServing as a symbol
- representativeOne who acts for another
- parabolicShaped like a conic section
metaphorical · archetypal · suggestive · allusive · significative · semiotic · connotative · veiled · cryptic · enigmatic
fable
Moral tale with animals
- parableInstructive allegorical narrative
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- legendUnverified traditional tale
tale · epic · saga · folklore · mythos · chronicle · morality play · Pilgrim's Progress · Animal Farm · Everyman
moral
Concerning right conduct
- lessonUnit of teaching
- teachingProfession of instructing others
- instructiveServing to teach
edifying · cautionary · wisdom · doctrine · enlightenment · pedagogical · exemplary · prescriptive · admonitory · sermonic
personification
Attributing humanity to non-humans
Fortune · Justice · Folly · Time · Nature · Faith · Hope · Charity · pilgrim · innocent
- Renaissance artMichelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, Titian
- literary adjectivespoetic, lyrical, prosaic, narrative, elegiac
- tapestryweaving, warp, wall hangings, weft, loom
- thought-provokingstimulating, fascinating, intriguing, engaging, compelling
- writing stylesformal, informal, minimalism, maximalism, concise
- literary termsmetaphor, character analysis, symbolism, prologue, epilogue
allegoricalliteral
Meaning exactly what's said
straightforward · nonfigurative · direct · plain · prosaic
allegoricalrealistic
True to life
naturalistic · documentary · factual · verisimilar · mimetic
- allegorical taleStory representing abstract ideas
- allegorical novelExtended symbolic narrative work
- allegorical charactersFigures representing ideas
- allegorical literatureWriting with hidden meanings