literal

American  

[lit-er-uhl] / ˈlɪt ər əl /

adjective

1. in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical.

   the literal meaning of a word.

2. following the words of the original very closely and exactly.

   a literal translation of Goethe.

3. true to fact; not exaggerated; actual or factual.

   a literal description of conditions.

   Synonyms:

   reliable, exact, truthful

4. being actually such, without exaggeration or inaccuracy.

   the literal extermination of a city.

5. (of persons) tending to construe words in the strict sense or in an unimaginative way; matter-of-fact; prosaic.

6. of or relating to the letters of the alphabet.

7. of the nature of letters.

8. expressed by letters.

9. affecting a letter or letters.

   a literal error.

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noun

• literals
  plural

1. a typographical error, especially involving a single letter.

literal British  

/ ˈlɪtərəl /

adjective

1. in exact accordance with or limited to the primary or explicit meaning of a word or text

2. word for word

3. dull, factual, or prosaic

4. consisting of, concerning, or indicated by letters

5. true; actual

6. maths containing or using coefficients and constants represented by letters: ax² + b is a literal expression Compare numerical

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noun

1. Also called: literal error. a misprint or misspelling in a text

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• literalness
  noun
• nonliteralness
  noun
• nonliteral
  adjective
• overliteral
  adjective
• unliteral
  adjective
• nonliterally
  adverb
• unliterally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• literals
  plural

Etymology

Origin of literal

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin litterālis “of letters.” See letter ¹, -al ¹

Explanation

To describe something as literal is to say that it is exactly what it seems to be. For example, if you put up a literal barrier to keep the world out, you've actually built a real wall. The background of literal includes the Latin litterālis, meaning "of letters or writing." This led to the sense of exactness, suggesting something is "to the letter." Many people misuse this word, as in "Listening to that dull teacher put me in a literal coma." Possible, but highly doubtful.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

literal literals

My aunt says I’m being too literal and that family isn’t supposed to keep score.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026

"We found the literal opposite of what we expected if you treat the bats with a lethal dose of this chemical," he said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 12, 2026

It is fenced in and gilded, with literal gold.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

But with the perspective of 25 years, what’s lingered for the most part aren’t the most literal depictions of the day, but oblique dramas that capture something more subtle: the free-floating anxiety of a nightmare.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Perhaps from this mentality, as well as from uncritical literal copying, came the medieval habit of reporting reported observations and experiments as if they were original.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

But maybe not in the literals sense, but it’s about the price that you pay for things, that it’s a cost.

From Salon ● Nov. 18, 2015

Instead, Apple patched up Objective-C and XCode over the years, introducing incremental features like Grand Central Dispatch, collection literals, and blocks, making the whole edifice increasingly labyrinthine and ad hoc.

From Slate ● Jun. 4, 2014

Mike read, following the lines with his pen, correcting the literals, and he cursed when the "devil" told him that ten more lines of copy were wanting to complete page nine.

From Mike Fletcher A Novel by George (George Augustus) Moore

“Those fellows of yours make more literals every day.”

From The Story of Antony Grace by George Manville Fenn

Related Words

• accurate
• actual
• authentic
• true
• unvarnished