literalism

noun lit·er·al·ism \ ˈli-t(ə-)rə-ˌli-zəm \

Updated on: 14 Mar 2018

Definition of literalism

1 : adherence to the explicit substance of an idea or expression

biblical literalism

2 : fidelity to observable fact : realism

—

literalist

play \ˈli-t(ə-)rə-list\ noun

—

literalistic

play \ˌli-t(ə-)rə-ˈli-stik\ adjective

Examples of literalism in a Sentence

if audiences ever got the literalism they claim they want in movies, they'd be fast asleep by the second reel

Recent Examples of literalism from the Web

And both have been criticized by fundamentalist and other more conservative religious thinkers who accuse them of not hewing to the most stringently doctrinaire biblical literalism.

— alex johnson, NBC News, "Billy Graham: A guidestar for preachers, as well as millions of followers," 2 Mar. 2018
Both rejected modernism in favor of Biblical literalism.

— sarah jones, New Republic, "Billy Graham’s Circus Left Him Behind," 22 Feb. 2018
His cooking today forgoes some of its former literalism (those papas a la huancaina are gone) and instead centers on Peruvian cuisine’s core tenets.

— patric kuh, Los Angeles Magazine, "The Food at Rosaliné Is Full of Heart (Yes, Literally) and You Need to Taste It," 29 Sep. 2017
As Colbert showed, Old Testament literalism makes for a nice belief system.

— jack holmes, Esquire, "Just How Nuts Is Roy Moore? Let Stephen Colbert Explain.," 28 Sep. 2017
But critics say it is plagued by the same sort of literalism and adherence to historic texts of interpretation that radicals thrive on and that feed intolerance and discrimination against women and minorities, including Christians.

— hamza hendawi, Washington Post, "Angry debate in Egypt over reforms in Islam against radicals," 26 Apr. 2017
A Moral Argument for Choice, Parker traces his anti-abortion-access stance to Biblical literalism and obliviousness to societal power structures.

— james hamblin, The Atlantic, "A Doctor's Plan to End Patriarchy," 25 June 2017
Some of them may be well known to Israeli viewers, but even so, the effect — and perhaps the intention — is to disorient the audience and strip away the literalism of historical dramatizations.

— a. o. scott, New York Times, "Movie Review: ‘Rabin: The Last Day’," 28 Jan. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'literalism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.