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
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Recent Examples of literary
The literary début of the Auto-Beatnik, a machine that could compose five thousand poems in an hour or so, caught the attention of Time, Life, and the Times.
—
Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
While the literary crowd will want to take up rooms at Belle Rives, music lovers should head up the street to sibling property Hôtel Juana.
—Lane Nieset, Travel + Leisure, 18 May 2026
He's decided the task of finding the parents' addresses is for Miss Jessie Fauset, his literary editor at The Crisis, not Mama.
—Danielle Parker, CBS News, 18 May 2026
Edwards richly draws on the writings of medieval mystics and the literary lives of medieval women to create this fictional world whose characters and their spiritual journeys feel so very authentic.
—Barbara Ellis, Denver Post, 17 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for literary
Jill Lepore, New Yorker, 18 May 2026
While the literary crowd will want to take up rooms at Belle Rives, music lovers should head up the street to sibling property Hôtel Juana.
—Lane Nieset, Travel + Leisure, 18 May 2026
He's decided the task of finding the parents' addresses is for Miss Jessie Fauset, his literary editor at The Crisis, not Mama.
—Danielle Parker, CBS News, 18 May 2026
Edwards richly draws on the writings of medieval mystics and the literary lives of medieval women to create this fictional world whose characters and their spiritual journeys feel so very authentic.
—Barbara Ellis, Denver Post, 17 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for literary
Recent Examples of Synonyms for literary
Adjective
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What made the incident even more striking was that most of Audubon Zoo’s sleepy lizards were bred in captivity, implying the reaction was an innate response instead of learned behavior.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
17 Sep. 2025
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This kind of trading is seen as a form of learned behavior, where dogs associate a specific action with a reward.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 June 2025
Adjective
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Across a wide range of media—painting, photography, and sculpture, installation, video, performance, and theater—participating artists traverse cultural, political, intellectual, and spiritual geographies that extend beyond national boundaries.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
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The first change has been the normalization of a multistep routine, what Dupreelle and Edelstein called the rise of skin intellectual consumers fueled by social media as a major point of discovery.—
Kanika Talwar,
Footwear News,
22 May 2026
Adjective
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Analysts have tried to forecast how much academic carnage will result from this demographic bind.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
New Yorker,
19 May 2026
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In a stunning rebuke, the Board of Governors rejected his appointment, forcing UF to restart the search and deepening concerns among faculty and alumni that ideological alignment now outweighs academic credentials in Florida university leadership.—
Garrett Shanley,
Miami Herald,
18 May 2026
Adjective
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Novak emphasized that some of today’s biggest literature advocates are bookish celebrities, who aren’t afraid to share their passion for reading in different ways.—
Carly Tagen-Dye,
PEOPLE,
15 May 2026
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Their mother is obsessed with marrying all the girls off, but has seemingly decided that bookish, sensible Mary isn’t worth the energy.—
Kate Erbland,
IndieWire,
6 May 2026
Adjective
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The team also captured the women’s scholastic championship.—
Chris Hays,
The Orlando Sentinel,
1 May 2026
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When not identified early, this can potentially derail a student’s scholastic trajectory from the very first days of school.—
Sherri Helvie,
New York Daily News,
19 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Soderbergh’s sly film asks what indeed constitutes great art and whether the answer lies in the eye of the beholder or in the erudite but not always reliable opinions from art criticism, art followers and the sometimes shallow artworld overall?—
Randy Myers,
Mercury News,
15 Apr. 2026
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The dazzlingly witty and erudite script, by Robert Kaplow, is nominated for Best Original Screenplay; Hawke, who is rightly nominated for Best Actor, delivers one of his richest and most surprising performances.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Literary.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/literary. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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