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symbolic. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
symbolic, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
symbolic in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
symbolic you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From French symbolique or directly from Latin symbolicus, from Ancient Greek συμβολικός (sumbolikós, “of or belonging to a symbol”).
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: sym‧bo‧lic
- Rhymes: -ɒlɪk
Adjective
symbolic (comparative more symbolic, superlative most symbolic)
- Pertaining to a symbol.
2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. When a series of bank failures made this impossible, there was widespread anger, leading to the public humiliation of symbolic figures.
- Implicitly representing or referring to another thing.
a symbolic gesture
Derived terms
Related terms
terms related to symbolic (adjective)
Translations
implicitly referring to another thing