Literal

//ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl//

Synonyms for "literal" (178 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Closest matches (36)

denotative exact genuine abecedarian accepted allographic alphabetic alphabetical approved arid authentic authoritative bare barren basic bona fide boring candid canonical capital

Show 14 more words

card carrying card-carrying christian colorless concrete conventional correct customary dictionary dinkum down-to-earth dry dull earthbound

Noun(1 words)

typo

Adjective(1 words)

actual

Strong matches (53)

Related words (89)

prosy pure real realistic received right rightful rigid scriptural semantic simon pure simon-pure simple simplistic sincere sound staid standard sterling stolid

Show 65 more words

Adjective(1 words)

real

Noun(1 words)

typographical error

Adjective(2 words)

verbatim word-for-word

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

9 relation types

More general

2 entries

error mistake

More specific

2 entries

hyperliteral overliteral

Antonyms

2 entries

figurative

Synonyms

2 entries

genuine misprint

Related terms

7 entries

constant letter literacy literary literate literature prime formula

derived

28 entries

antiliteral biliteral duoliteral hexaliteral hyperliteralism illiteral literal equation literal rule literal theonymy literal-minded literalise literalism literalist literalistic literality literalization

Showing 16 of 28 words.

has context

2 entries

logic programming

related to

26 entries

accord adjective constant exact figurative follow free identifier interpretation letter liberties literacy literary literate literature metaphorical

Showing 16 of 26 words.

similar

9 entries

denotative exact explicit plain true unrhetorical

Translations

93 translations across 38 languages.

Arabic

2 entries

حَرْفِيّ adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
لَفْظِيّ adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Aragonese

1 entries

literal adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Armenian

2 entries

բառացի adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
բառացի adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Asturian

1 entries

lliteral adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Bulgarian

3 entries

буквален adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
буквен adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)
дословен adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Catalan

1 entries

literal adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Chinese Mandarin

4 entries

字面 adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
逐字逐句 adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
字面量 noun (programming: value written in the source code)
直接量 noun (programming: value written in the source code)

Czech

3 entries

doslovný adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
doslovný adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
literál noun (programming: value written in the source code)

Danish

1 entries

bogstavelig adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Dutch

4 entries

letter adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)
letterlijk adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
letterlijk adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
strikt adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Esperanto

2 entries

laŭvorta adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
laŭvorta adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Faroese

1 entries

bókstavligur adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Finnish

4 entries

kirjaimellinen adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
kirjaimellinen adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
sananmukainen adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
sananmukainen adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

French

4 entries

littéral adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
littéral adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
épistolaire adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)
littéral noun (programming: value written in the source code)

Galician

2 entries

literal adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
literal adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

German

3 entries

buchstäblich adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
buchstäblich adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
wörtlich adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Greek

2 entries

κατά γράμμα adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
κυριολεκτικό noun (programming: value written in the source code)

Hungarian

4 entries

betű szerinti adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
szó szerinti adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
szó szerinti adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
szóról szóra történő adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Icelandic

1 entries

bókstaflegur adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Indonesian

2 entries

harfiah adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
literal adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Irish

1 entries

beacht adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Italian

4 entries

alla lettera adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
alla lettera adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
letterale adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
letterale adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Japanese

3 entries

文字上の adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)
文字通り adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
逐語的な adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Macedonian

1 entries

буквален adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Māori

1 entries

pūrite adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Norwegian Bokmål

1 entries

ordrett adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Norwegian Nynorsk

1 entries

ordrett adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Old English

3 entries

stæflīċ adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
stæflīċ adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
stæflīċ adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)

Persian

1 entries

تحتاللفظی adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Polish

4 entries

dosłowny adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
dosłowny adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
literalny adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
literał noun (programming: value written in the source code)

Portuguese

4 entries

literal adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
literal adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
constante noun (programming: value written in the source code)
literal noun (programming: value written in the source code)

Romanian

3 entries

literală adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
literală adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
literală adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)

Russian

4 entries

бу́квенный adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)
буква́льный adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
буква́льный adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
досло́вный adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Slovak

1 entries

doslovný adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Spanish

1 entries

literal adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Swedish

2 entries

bokstavlig adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
ordagrann adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)

Vietnamese

1 entries

nghĩa đen adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)

Welsh

3 entries

llythrennol adj (exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation)
llythrennol adj (following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties)
llythrennol adj (consisting of, or expressed by, letters)

Sample sentences

18 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

I foolishly interpreted the idiom according to its literal sense.

Source: tatoeba (253258)

I took it in a literal sense.

Source: tatoeba (254845)

He explained the literal meaning of the phrase.

Source: tatoeba (290697)

He explained the literal meaning of the sentences.

Source: tatoeba (305848)

Showing 4 of 18 available sentences.

More for "literal"

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