nonmetaphorical

adjective

non·​met·​a·​phor·​i·​cal ˌnän-ˌme-tə-ˈfȯr-i-kəl 

-ˈfär-

: not of, relating to, or employing a metaphor

a straightforward, nonmetaphorical explanation

Some of our conceptual understandings of love, marriage, anger and other abstract concepts may be nonmetaphorical, but a great many of these abstract concepts appear to be constituted by metaphor.

—Raymond W. Gibbs

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above