literal-minded
adjective
: understanding words and statements only in the most basic and ordinary way and not having much imagination
Examples of literal-minded in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And Google’s algorithm was my student—a very powerful, very literal-minded child that needed to be taught.
—
Jason Barnard, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Neeson’s Drebin, in the tradition of these films, is the cop as existential moron, living in the literal-minded moment.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 30 July 2025
Herman’s father runs a car-wrecking company, and in a sense this scheme is Herman’s quite literal-minded attempt to find his place in the family business.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
Watching actual bodies and objects moving through space (the air or water) is literal-minded rather than fantastic in the ways that made silent movie masters Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin funny and sublime.
—Armond White, National Review, 23 May 2025
But maybe a different dream of harmony, a literal-minded, utilitarian righteousness, an easy, almost evangelical can-do determination to make everything right?
—Robert Pinsky, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2025
Jeff Nathanson’s awkwardly literal-minded script pays occasional lip service to these ideas, but the movie itself fails to give us anything resembling an actual cinematic experience of them.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
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Jason Barnard, Forbes.com, 27 Aug. 2025
Neeson’s Drebin, in the tradition of these films, is the cop as existential moron, living in the literal-minded moment.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 30 July 2025
Herman’s father runs a car-wrecking company, and in a sense this scheme is Herman’s quite literal-minded attempt to find his place in the family business.
—Charlie Lee, Harpers Magazine, 18 June 2025
Watching actual bodies and objects moving through space (the air or water) is literal-minded rather than fantastic in the ways that made silent movie masters Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and Charlie Chaplin funny and sublime.
—Armond White, National Review, 23 May 2025
But maybe a different dream of harmony, a literal-minded, utilitarian righteousness, an easy, almost evangelical can-do determination to make everything right?
—Robert Pinsky, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2025
Jeff Nathanson’s awkwardly literal-minded script pays occasional lip service to these ideas, but the movie itself fails to give us anything resembling an actual cinematic experience of them.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Literal-minded.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literal-minded. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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