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literal English

Meaning literal meaning

What does literal mean?
Definitions in simple English

literal

The literal meaning of a word or phrase is the plain meaning: exactly what it says. It is not enough to understand the literal meaning of speech. Many Christians have a view of life that is based on a literal interpretation of the Bible. This mission has been the adventure of a lifetime in a very literal sense; it has taken my whole life.

literal

(= actual, genuine) being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something her actual motive a literal solitude like a desert — G.K.Chesterton a genuine dilemma without interpretation or embellishment a literal depiction of the scene before him limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text a literal translation avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis) it's the literal truth (= misprint) a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind

Synonyms literal synonyms

What other words have the same or similar meaning as literal?

Topics literal topics

What do people use literal to talk about?

Examples literal examples

How do I use literal in a sentence?

Simple sentences

He explained the literal meaning of the phrase.
She explained the literal meaning of the phrase.
You can add a literal translation.
They can add a literal translation.
That sounds like a literal translation from the English.
That isn't a literal translation, it's just plain wrong.
He explained the literal meaning of the sentences.
It's an idiom. You don't have to understand its literal meaning.
I am afraid your translation is overly literal.

Movie subtitles

The kid saw himself. being punished in the literal sense of the word.
I think he's kidding us. in the literal sense of the word.
You are so literal.
Well, in a literal and terrifying sense, inside this demure young woman two very vivid and different personalities were battling for the mastery of her character.
That's the trouble with these literal minds.
Please Giulia, there's no need to be so literal all the time.
Word for word, a literal translation.
It's a literal fact, which the good Bishop arrived at through careful computation of the ages of the prophets as set down in the Old Testament.
Well, was it a normal day, a literal day, a 24-hour day?
As I was telling you, even though that deluded rector has in literal effect closed the church to me I have contrived to maintain proper service to the Lord in my own home.
If you want a literal translation, the mirrored images of themselves.
A bit literal, i suppose, if one goes into it.
You must believe in Christ's words in their literal sense.
Don't be so literal.
Jeez, I wasn't being literal! I meant the thoughts on the streets at night.
The kid saw himself being punished in the literal sense of the word.
I think he's messing with us in the literal sense of the word.
Come on, you know there is no danger, the pub is a literal mousetrap!
It doesn't really have a literal translation.
I guess Judy plans to defend him in the literal sense.
When I said separated, I meant it in a literal sense.
The car with lateral traction. is a literal attraction. Second: the balancing act.
That's the literal.
And that is not an exaggeration, but the literal truth.
Ha, your lot both in the literal and figurative sense of the word.
I was using the term in its literal sense, Michael.
The Germans, Mr Holcroft, are such a literal people.
Come on, you know there is no danger, the pub is a literal mousetrap! If he dares to come in, he's done.
It has a terribly literal mind.
Very literal mind.
Don't be literal, I didn't meant her directly, it hasn't to be her.
Well, I took them literal and serious when they sentenced me to death.
Are we being too literal?
In this case, it's the literal truth.
The person who wrote this book is your murderer. and acted out the killing described in ritualistic, literal detail.
A source of literal, visible delight. but necessary.

News and current affairs

Their reasoning indicates that they, like the President, have a childishly literal notion of what it is to lie.
In fact, even on the most literal interpretation, Bush's statement was not accurate.
Bush's excessively literal interpretation of the requirements of honesty conceals a deeper dishonesty whose consequences have been far more morally serious.
This part of the ecological footprint is a convenient measure of our literal footprint on earth.
As a result, rather than ensuring that their constitution reflects social, technological, economic, and even ideological developments, they zealously uphold its precise provisions, like religious fundamentalists defending the literal truth of scripture.
There can be no free market for basic science in the literal sense of the term.
The heritage of kings and queens stretching back across more than a millennium - the enduring symbolism of crowns and coaches, and the literal embodiment of the English and now the British state - binds Britons together in a common journey.
Today, it applies to Russia in a far more literal way.
While reconstruction - both literal and figurative - is commencing in some parts of the region, countries like Syria are aflame.
Religion plays a part in them, including the literal truth of the bible when it comes to the story of the creation.
People used to joke that we will struggle for peace until there is nothing left on the planet; the threat of climate change makes this prophesy more literal than ever.
An old man with a long beard watches over us, and most of us retain a pretty literal opinion of the stories about his Son told in the Bible's New Testament.

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