literary

American  

[lit-uh-rer-ee] / ˈlɪt əˌrɛr i /

adjective

1. pertaining to or of the nature of books and writings, especially those classed as literature.

   literary history.

2. pertaining to authorship.

   literary style.

3. versed in or acquainted with literature; well-read.

4. engaged in or having the profession of literature or writing.

   a literary man.

5. characterized by an excessive or affected display of learning; stilted; pedantic.

6. preferring books to actual experience; bookish.

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literary British  

/ ˈlɪtrərɪ, ˈlɪtərərɪ /

adjective

1. of, relating to, concerned with, or characteristic of literature or scholarly writing

   a literary discussion

   a literary style

2. versed in or knowledgeable about literature

   a literary man

3. (of a word) formal; not colloquial

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

• literarily adverb
• literariness noun
• nonliterarily adverb
• nonliterarilyness noun
• nonliterariness noun
• nonliterary adjective
• overliterarily adverb
• overliterariness noun
• overliterary adjective
• preliterary adjective
• pseudoliterary adjective
• quasi-literary adjective
• unliterary adjective

Etymology

Origin of literary

1640–50; < Latin līterārius, litterārius of reading and writing. See letter ¹, -ary

Example Sentences

In 2023, the guild secured various AI protections by establishing that AI isn’t a writer and nothing it produces is considered literary material.

From Los Angeles Times

For those who grew up with Ms. Blume’s star fixed immutably in their literary firmament, it’s hard to think of her success as a fluke of time and place.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ash, 23, said he felt the advisory was unnecessary for a well-known literary classic and raised concerns about people being influenced by a warning instead of forming their own conclusions.

From BBC

Wildly digressive, buzzing with literary allusions and telling its story as a 20th-century Shakespearean tragedy, the book has some of the mad, restless energy of Sellers himself.

From The Wall Street Journal

I eventually concluded that some literary authors hate love stories not because writing about the topic is too easy, but because it’s so hard.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• classical
• scholarly