Definition of Literal
Literal
lit·er·al
Definition/Meaning
(adjective)
taking the usual or primary sense of words, considering their actual or most basic meaning, as opposed to a figurative meaning;
e.g. He spoke in a very literal manner, saying exactly what he meant so that no-one would misunderstand him.
(adjective)
straightforward and factual, not involving any distortion or exaggeration, often used informally to strongly express or emphasize one's feelings;
e.g. They asked for a literal account of what had happened, without any personal input. There was a waterfall coming from the broken pipe.
(adjective)
exactly representing an original, especially used to describe a word-for-word translation;
e.g. It can be interesting to learn the literal meanings of spoken expressions in other languages.
(adjective)
overly factual or matter-of-fact, lacking imagination and thus dull or boring;
e.g. The actor gave a rather literal performance of the role, which erased the complexity of the character.
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