Literalism

noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Literal interpretation or understanding; adherence to the exact letter or precise significance, as in interpreting or translating. uncountable, usually

    "Elsewhere, the liturgiologists were said to have "disembowelled the language of the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible" and produced in its place "the bland literalisms of Series 3 and the ASB[.]""

  2. 2
    the doctrine of realistic (literal) portrayal in art or literature wordnet
  3. 3
    The style of art portraying a subject as literally and accurately as possible. uncountable, usually

    "The two main forms of literalism are ergism and orthodoxy."

  4. 4
    a disposition to interpret statements in their literal sense wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
accuracyartlessnessauthenticitybibliolatrybigotrydelicacy

Example

More examples

""His literalism is insane." "He seems mentally stable to me.""

Etymology

From literal + -ism.

More for "literalism"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.