Form, figure, shape, conformation, configuration are comparable when they denote the disposition or arrangement of content that gives a particular aspect or appearance to a thing as distinguished from the substance of which that thing is made.
Form is not only the most widely applicable of these terms, but it is also the least definitely fixed in its meaning, largely because of its being assigned various denotations in philosophy and aesthetics and because of its frequent use in reference to literature, music, and thought, where more is involved than the disposition or arrangement of content as immediately perceived by the senses. In general, form more than any of the other words implies reference to internal structure and disposition of details as well as to boundary lines and suggests unity in the whole.
Figure applies usually to the form as determined by the lines which bound or enclose a thing <flowers have all exquisite figures —Bacon > The term also may often suggest the lines or sometimes the visible form characteristic of a kind or type or the lines which follow a more or less conventional pattern rather than represent something actual.
Shape, like figure, suggests reference to the boundary lines, but it carries a stronger implication of a mass or of a body than does figure and is therefore precisely applicable to something that is shown in its bulk rather than in its lines; thus, one draws the figure rather than the shape of a circle or a triangle, but one forms a mass of clay in the shape in preference to the figure of a ball or of a man.
Often, shape applies to outlines that have been given to a mass (as by molding, carving, or pressure).
Form, figure, and shape are also used in reference to the bodies of living creatures, especially of men and women. Form is perhaps the most shadowy of these terms; it is applied chiefly to persons or animals identified but not clearly seen or noted in detail.
Figure usually suggests closer vision than form and some perception of details but stresses lines, carriage, and posture.
Shape differs little from figure except in its clearer suggestion of flesh and body.
Conformation stresses the structure of something as composed or fashioned of related or carefully adjusted parts or as constituting a harmonious whole; it carries only a slight suggestion of reference to the outer lines or shape.
Configuration emphasizes the disposition or arrangement of parts and the pattern that they form especially over an extent of space or territory.