as in historical
restricted to or based on fact
a literal account of the explorer's adventures is actually a lot less interesting than his own exaggerated stories
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Recent Examples of literal
An art conservator who'd prefer to be immersed in detail work, Sarah is bombing as the host of a dinner party where her entrepreneur husband (Tom Riley) hopes to impress an obnoxious prospective investor (Tom Goodman-Hill) when a literal explosive goes off in her neighborhood.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
But the literal definition of resilience is the ability of a system to return to its original baseline after being disturbed.
—Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
Of course, that’s the timing needed just to reach a park; actually getting to the trees requires literal legwork.
—AFAR Media, 28 Oct. 2025
This is subtle stuff, but anything more literal might feel cheesy.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for literal
Judy Berman, Time, 29 Oct. 2025
But the literal definition of resilience is the ability of a system to return to its original baseline after being disturbed.
—Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
Of course, that’s the timing needed just to reach a park; actually getting to the trees requires literal legwork.
—AFAR Media, 28 Oct. 2025
This is subtle stuff, but anything more literal might feel cheesy.
—Adriane Quinlan, Curbed, 27 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for literal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for literal
Adjective
-
Personal remembrance becomes interwoven with political fiction, historical fact, and mythological distortion in the flood of stories that customarily follows a war.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
-
Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical artifacts, not remain in parks or other locations that imply honor.—
NPR,
NPR,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
In factual, the slate includes Bolivian prison doc Inside Out, which goes inside the walls of the notorious San Pedro prison, run by inmates.—
Stewart Clarke,
Deadline,
29 Oct. 2025
-
The outlet also identified multiple factual errors.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
28 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
But the true freshman looked poised and undaunted, able to pick up a trio of fourth-down conversions with his arm and more positive yards with his legs.—
Quentin Corpuel,
Kansas City Star,
31 Oct. 2025
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His portrayal of a pompous, yapping intellectual who's rotten to the core rings uncomfortably true, as do the performances of Thatcher and East as their characters nonverbally communicate their discomfort to each other.—
Dennis Perkins,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Hesse shot over 200 hours of documentary footage in the early 1960s, creating an archive of negatives that capture the first few chapters of a nation’s history.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
24 Oct. 2025
-
The result is a gritty crime opera with something of a documentary-esque sensibility.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Recently, this sacrament has garnered nonfictional attention.—
Timothy Gabrielli,
The Conversation,
25 Aug. 2025
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Literally
A word that (literally) drives people nuts
Cite this Entry
“Literal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/literal. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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