Synonyms of literary

literary

adjective

ˈli-tə-ˌrer-ē 

as in learned

suggestive of the vocabulary used in books

the novel's dialogue is a little too literary in flavor to be entirely convincing

Synonyms & Similar Words

• learned
• intellectual
• academic
• bookish
• scholastic
• erudite
• educated
• formal
• schooled
• belletristic
• highbrow
• pedantic
• eloquent
• elevated
• donnish
• stately
• inkhorn
• majestic
• declamatory
• bombastic
• flowery
• grandiloquent
• pompous
• highbrowed
• towering
• florid
• lofty
• stilted
• high-flown
• highfalutin

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• nonliterary
• colloquial
• conversational
• informal
• familiar
• chatty
• unbookish
• slangy
• illiterate

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of literary

In much of literary fiction, characters and settings are developed slowly, through the gradual accrual of discrete moments that rarely stray from the mundane and the reasonable. — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026

Prominent crime writers of the 1970s, Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines, continued this exploration, as did writers of literary fiction like Toni Morrison, Gayl Jones, and Toni Cade Bambara. — Niela Orr, Vulture, 20 July 2026

Recent years have seen the opening of a small gin distillery and the launch of a spring literary festival, but most of Filey’s shops and cafés are long-established. — The Week Uk, TheWeek, 19 July 2026

Perhaps the best-known of the recent literary riffs on the Odyssey is Circe, written by Madeline Miller. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 18 July 2026