literary
[lit-uh-rer-ee]
- 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.
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Origin of literary
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
Like Nate, the novel is literarily self-conscious, but Nate often reads to show off.
Historical Examples
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 NewJames J. Walsh
It must have become evident from this incomplete review that Iowa is literarily, to say the least, no longer inarticulate.
Prairie GoldVarious
literary
- 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
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Word Origin
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
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper