literal
adjective
Simple meaning
Exactly as stated.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
literuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈlɪtɚəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not taking liberties; etymonic rather than idiomatic.
of a person
Unimaginative; matter-of-fact; literal-minded.
Actual, real, physical.
proscribed
Used nonliterally as an intensifier. See literally for usage notes.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
More ways to use literal
- “Her literal interpretation of the instructions caused some confusion.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Related to creative writing of recognized artistic value.
In a literal sense.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
An interpretation based on the exact wording.
A mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: exactly as stated
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.