literary

[lit-uh-rer-ee]

adjective

pertaining to or of the nature of books and writings, especially those classed as literature: literary history.
pertaining to authorship: literary style.
versed in or acquainted with literature; well-read.

engaged in or having the profession of literature or writing: a literary man.
characterized by an excessive or affected display of learning; stilted; pedantic.
preferring books to actual experience; bookish.

Origin of literary

1640–50; < Latin līterārius, litterārius of reading and writing. See letter¹, -ary

Related formslit·er·ar·i·ly, adverblit·er·ar·i·ness, nounnon·lit·er·ar·i·ly, adverbnon·lit·er·ar·i·ly·ness, nounnon·lit·er·ar·i·ness, nounnon·lit·er·ar·y, adjectiveo·ver·lit·er·ar·i·ly, adverbo·ver·lit·er·ar·i·ness, nouno·ver·lit·er·ar·y, adjectivepre·lit·er·ar·y, adjectivepseu·do·lit·er·ar·y, adjectivequa·si-lit·er·ar·y, adjectiveun·lit·er·ar·y, adjective

Usage note

In this dictionary, the label Literary is assigned to an entry term or definition that is used rarely in contemporary speech or writing except to create a literary, poetic, or evocative effect.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for literarily

Contemporary Examples of literarily

Like Nate, the novel is literarily self-conscious, but Nate often reads to show off.
How to Get Laid in Brooklyn a la Adelle Waldman’s Nifty Novel of Manners
Tom LeClair
July 25, 2014

Historical Examples of literarily

Our drama is literally and literarily a farce, and no drama that any one expects to live has been written for more than a century.
Education: How Old The New
James J. Walsh
It must have become evident from this incomplete review that Iowa is literarily, to say the least, no longer inarticulate.
Prairie Gold
Various

British Dictionary definitions for literarily

literary

adjective

of, relating to, concerned with, or characteristic of literature or scholarly writinga literary discussion; a literary style
versed in or knowledgeable about literaturea literary man
(of a word) formal; not colloquial

Derived Formsliterarily, adverbliterariness, noun

Word Origin for literary

C17: from Latin litterārius concerning reading and writing. See letter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for literarily

literary

adj.

1640s, "pertaining to alphabet letters," from French littéraire, from Latin literarius/litterarius "belonging to letters or learning," from littera/litera "letter" (see letter (n.1)). Meaning "pertaining to literature" is attested from 1737.