Definition of Literal
Literal
lit·er·al
Definition/Meaning
(adjective)
Exactly or strictly true to the original or actual meaning.
e.g. The literal translation of the phrase lost its idiomatic meaning.
(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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