metaphorically

From metaphorical +‎ -ly.

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metaphorically (comparative more metaphorically, superlative most metaphorically)

2. (manner) In a metaphorical manner; not literally; by means of metaphor.

   Synonym: nonliterally

   He conveyed his teachings metaphorically.

   • 1872, George Eliot, Middlemarch, I.5:

     […] as, for example, in the present case of throwing herself, metaphorically speaking, at Mr Casaubon's feet, and kissing his unfashionable shoe-ties as if he were a Protestant Pope.

   • 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 15 August 2012:

     Mr. Burns is similarly perfectly cast as a heartless capitalist willing to do anything for a quick buck, even if it means endangering the lives of those around him and Marge elegantly rounds out the main cast as a good, pure-hearted and overly indulgent woman who sees the big, good heart (literally and metaphorically) of a monstrous man-brute.

   • 2021 January 13, Steven Poole, “'Insurrection': how an old word for an old thing was Trumped”, in The Guardian‎^[2], archived from the original on 20 January 2021:

     Thinking more metaphorically, his American contemporary James Russell Lowell wrote: “It is not the insurrections of ignorance that are dangerous, but the revolts of intelligence.” Had he lived to the year 2021, he might have changed his mind.

4. (as a sentence adverb) Used to draw attention that what follows is a metaphor, not to be taken literally

   Metaphorically, he was crushed.

• literally