literal

 
Pronunciation: /ˈlɪt(ə)r(ə)l/

adjective

  • 1taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or exaggeration: dreadful in its literal sense, full of dread
  • free from exaggeration or distortion: you shouldn’t take this as a literal record of events
  • informal absolute (used to emphasize that a strong expression is deliberately chosen to convey one’s feelings): fifteen years of literal hell
  • 2(of a translation) representing the exact words of the original text: a literal translation from the Spanish
  • (of a visual representation) exactly copied; realistic as opposed to abstract or impressionistic.
  • 3 (also literal-minded) (of a person or performance) lacking imagination; prosaic: his interpretation was rather too literal
  • 4of, in, or expressed by a letter or the letters of the alphabet: literal mnemonics

noun

Printing, British
  • a misprint of a letter.

Derivatives

literality

Pronunciation: /-ˈralɪti/
noun

literalize

(also literalise) verb

literalness

noun

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French, or from late Latin litteralis, from Latin littera (see letter)