literalize

verb

lit·​er·​al·​ize ˈli-t(ə-)rə-ˌlīz 

literalized; literalizing

transitive verb

: to make literal

literalization

ˌli-t(ə-)rə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

Examples of literalize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Or to literalize the notion that, duh, relationships can be scary? — Justin Changfilm Critic, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2023

But even here — under a tangle of rope and lace, designed by Rajha Shakiry, that seems to literalize the World Wide Web — the argot of social media invades. — Alexis Soloski, New York Times, 13 Jan. 2023

Men is the kind of movie to literalize those demons, mostly in the form of a man, performed by surprisingly malleable Rory Kinnear, who plays a cruel, spooky trick on her. — K. Austin Collins, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2022

Director Zambello doesn’t literalize the wondrous transformation at hand (wondrous or corny, depending on your tastes). — Michael Phillips, chicagotribune.com, 14 Nov. 2021

Word History

First Known Use

1703, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for literalize

• actualize
• antagonize
• apologise
• apologize
• capitalize
• categorize
• characterize
• commercialize
• conceptualize
• contrariwise
• criminalize
• decentralize

Video

Literally

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to Ask the Editor. I'm Emily Brewster, an associate editor at Merriam Webster.
 
A thrill went through the packed court literally electrifying everybody.
So writes James Joyce in Ulysses.
 
No, the thrill described in that quote is not one specially equipped with an electrical charge. Joyce is using the word literally to mean in effect or virtually. Many people object to this extended use of literally, but Joyce isn't alone in employing it.
 
Charlotte Bronte and Louisa May Alcott used it.
So did Mark Twain and Willa Cather.
Also Vladimir Nabokov and David Foster Wallace.
 
One might say that literature is, (clearing throat) literally riddled with it.
 
Charles Dickens was a pioneer of the use. In Nicholas Nickleby he writes that one character literally feasted his eyes in silence upon another, but the evolution of this use began much earlier.
 
John Dryden complained that his daily bread is literally implored.
 
Alexander Pope commented everyday with me is literally another yesterday for it is exactly the same.
 
In these instances the adverb adds emphasis to the word or phrase that follows it, that word or phrase being intended in a literal sense. Dickens merely placed the same intensifier in front of a figurative phrase that can't be taken literally. The result, pure hyperbole, which is a legitimate literary tool.
 
Does this mean that you should use literally this way? Maybe, but remember that hyperbole requires care in handling and that your audience may not recognize it for what it is.
 
You can tell someone that you literally devour novels and that your kids were literally bouncing off the walls, but be prepared for your listener to refuse to lend you books and to be curious about the composition of your offspring.
 
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