Used to intensify or dramatize non-figurative statements.
Word for word; not figuratively; not as an idiom or metaphor.
Used as a generic downtoner: just, merely.
Used non-literally as an intensifier for figurative statements: virtually, so to speak (often considered incorrect; see usage notes)
Used to draw attention that what follows is a metaphor, not to be taken literally
In a metaphoric manner; not literally; by means of metaphor.