textualist

American  

[teks-choo-uh-list] / ˈtɛks tʃu ə lɪst /

noun

1. a person who adheres closely to a text, especially of the Scriptures.

2. a person who is well versed in the text of the Scriptures.

3. Law. a person who adheres to the doctrine that a legal document or statute should be interpreted by determining the relatively objective ordinary meaning of its words and phrases.

   Justice Hugo Black took a literal reading of the Bill of Rights, leading to his reputation as a textualist.

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Etymology

Origin of textualist

First recorded in 1620–30; textual + -ist

Example Sentences

Jackson’s response refutes Gorsuch’s claim that textualist can always divine a law’s true meaning from words alone.

From Slate

And in 2023, she joined his textualist concurrence in a case about artistic freedom.

From Slate

I don’t think he was saying he was a textualist or originalist.

From Slate

But if we go by a rigid textualist reading of the 22nd Amendment, it could happen.

From Slate

According to the textualist position associated with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, legal words mean what they say.

From Seattle Times