literalism
Americannoun
-
adherence to the exact letter or the literal sense, as in translation or interpretation.
to interpret the law with uncompromising literalism.
-
a peculiarity of expression resulting from this.
The work is studded with these obtuse literalisms.
-
exact representation or portrayal, without idealization, as in art or literature.
a literalism more appropriate to journalism than to the novel.
noun
-
the disposition to take words and statements in their literal sense
-
literal or realistic portrayal in art or literature
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of literalism
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.
Through his studies at mosques and madrasas across the Muslim world, Ibn Tumart had developed a broader outlook than Ibn Yasin, and Ibn Tumart’s cosmopolitan approach challenged Ibn Yasin’s scriptural literalism.
From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023
Meanwhile, Wilde’s direction manages to be simultaneously overheated and pedestrian, resorting to blunt-force literalism in moments that call for Hitchcockian finesse.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 20, 2022
It's been quoted to argue against Biblical literalism and science denial.
From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2022
The rise of conducting styles that challenged his — above all the textual literalism of his rival, Arturo Toscanini — confirmed for him that the Weimar Republic was a Germany in crisis.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2021
But you wouldn't know all this if you went by the sound of his name—which I did, an immigrant's failing, literalism.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
