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literal-minded

American

[lit-er-uhl-mahyn-did] / ˈlɪt ər əlˌmaɪn dɪd /

adjective

unimaginative; prosaic; matter-of-fact.

Etymology

Origin of literal-minded

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Sensitivity to language is important and necessary, but we've become too literal-minded".

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2024

As Elizabeth Yuko wrote for the History Channel last year, it was the rise of Charismatic Christianity — and televangelists like Billy Graham — who helped bring the fiery and literal-minded approach to contemporary demon-busting.

From Salon • Oct. 8, 2023

But ultimately you will have to defer to the parent, even if you think they are being overprotective or too literal-minded.

From Washington Post • Nov. 3, 2022

"Started out as a good idea - Let's be nice to people' - and finished up as a humorless, censorious, literal-minded, posturing idiocy," he wrote.

From Fox News • Apr. 15, 2021

"No; I'd let you wheel yourself out," Jasper Hardy, again the literal-minded Hardy, said.

From The Bad Man by Towne, Charles Hanson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023