Literal — meaning, pronunciation & more

Definition

a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind

being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something; ; - G.K.Chesterton

Pronunciation

🇺🇸American English

/lˈɪɾɚɹəl/

🇬🇧British English

/lˈɪtəɹəl/

🇮🇳Indian English

/lˈɪtəɹəl/

3 syllables Say it as /lˈɪɾɚɹəl/.

Examples

her actual motive
a literal solitude like a desert
a genuine dilemma

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

typo literal error genuine real erratum typographical error misprint actual

Antonyms

figurative

Parts of Speech

noun	a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind
adjective	being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something; ; - G.K.Chesterton “her actual motive”
adjective	without interpretation or embellishment “a literal depiction of the scene before him”
adjective	limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text “a literal translation”
adjective	avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis) “it's the literal truth”

Word Forms

misprint	verb	print incorrectly
genuineness	noun	the state of being genuine
literalness	noun	adhereing to the concrete construal of something
realness	noun	the state of being actual or real
reality	noun	the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be

Around the World

Europe

🇩🇪German

wörtlich

ein Fehler in Drucksachen, der auf irgendeine Art von mechanischem Versagen zurückzuführen ist

🇫🇷French

littéral

une erreur dans un imprimé résultant d'une défaillance mécanique quelconque

🇮🇹Italian

letterale

un errore nel materiale stampato derivante da guasti meccanici di qualche tipo

🇳🇱Dutch

letterlijk

een fout in drukwerk die het gevolg is van een of andere mechanische storing

🇷🇺Russian

буквальный

ошибка в печатном материале, возникшая в результате каких-либо механических неисправностей

India

🇮🇳Hindi

शाब्दिक

किसी प्रकार की यांत्रिक विफलता के परिणामस्वरूप मुद्रित सामग्री में हुई गलती

🇧🇩Bengali

আক্ষরিক

কোন ধরণের যান্ত্রিক ব্যর্থতার ফলে মুদ্রিত বিষয়ে একটি ভুল

🇮🇳Tamil

நேரடியான

சில வகையான இயந்திர தோல்விகளின் விளைவாக அச்சிடப்பட்ட விஷயத்தில் ஒரு தவறு

🇮🇳Telugu

అక్షరాలా

కొన్ని రకాల యాంత్రిక వైఫల్యాల ఫలితంగా ముద్రించిన పదార్థంలో పొరపాటు

🇮🇳Marathi

शाब्दिक

काही प्रकारच्या यांत्रिक बिघाडांमुळे मुद्रित पदार्थातील चूक

🇮🇳Gujarati

શાબ્દિક

અમુક પ્રકારની યાંત્રિક નિષ્ફળતાના પરિણામે પ્રિન્ટેડ બાબતમાં ભૂલ

🇮🇳Kannada

ಅಕ್ಷರಶಃ

ಕೆಲವು ರೀತಿಯ ಯಾಂತ್ರಿಕ ವೈಫಲ್ಯಗಳ ಪರಿಣಾಮವಾಗಿ ಮುದ್ರಿತ ವಸ್ತುವಿನಲ್ಲಿ ತಪ್ಪು

🇮🇳Malayalam

അക്ഷരാർത്ഥത്തിൽ

ഏതെങ്കിലും തരത്തിലുള്ള മെക്കാനിക്കൽ തകരാറുകളുടെ ഫലമായി അച്ചടിച്ച ദ്രവ്യത്തിലെ പിശക്

🇮🇳Punjabi

ਸ਼ਾਬਦਿਕ

ਕਿਸੇ ਕਿਸਮ ਦੀਆਂ ਮਕੈਨੀਕਲ ਅਸਫਲਤਾਵਾਂ ਦੇ ਨਤੀਜੇ ਵਜੋਂ ਛਾਪੇ ਗਏ ਪਦਾਰਥ ਵਿੱਚ ਇੱਕ ਗਲਤੀ

🇵🇰Urdu

لفظی

کسی قسم کی مکینیکل ناکامی کے نتیجے میں طباعت شدہ مادے میں غلطی

East & Southeast Asia

🇨🇳Chinese

文字

由于某种机械故障而导致的印刷品错误

🇯🇵Japanese

リテラル

何らかの機械的故障に起因する印刷物の誤り

🇰🇷Korean

오자

어떤 종류의 기계적 결함으로 인한 인쇄물의 실수

🇻🇳Vietnamese

theo nghĩa đen

một lỗi trong tài liệu in do một số lỗi cơ học

🇹🇭Thai

ตัวอักษร

ความผิดพลาดในสิ่งพิมพ์อันเป็นผลจากความผิดพลาดทางกลไกบางประการ

🇮🇩Indonesian

harfiah

kesalahan pada barang cetakan yang disebabkan oleh beberapa jenis kegagalan mekanis

Middle East

🇸🇦Arabic

حرفي

خطأ في المادة المطبوعة ناتج عن أعطال ميكانيكية من نوع ما

🇮🇷Persian

تحت اللفظی

اشتباه در مواد چاپی ناشی از نوعی خرابی مکانیکی

🇹🇷Turkish

gerçek

basılı materyalde bir tür mekanik arızadan kaynaklanan bir hata

🇮🇱Hebrew

מילולית

טעות בדפוס הנובעת מכשלים מכניים מסוג כלשהו

Test Yourself1 / 3

What is the primary definition of the word 'literal'?

The primary meaning of 'literal' is 'a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind'.

Which of the following sentences uses the word 'literal' in a grammatically correct way?

Using 'literal' in a noun/adjective form makes the first sentence correct.

In which domain is the word 'literal' most likely to appear as standard vocabulary?

'literal' is a standard word used primarily in general literature and formal communications.

Community Poll1 / 6

How often do you encounter the word 'literal' in your daily reading?

Very Often

Occasionally

Rarely

Never

Do you find 'literal' easy to spell?

Yes, very easy

Somewhat easy

A bit confusing

Extremely hard

In your opinion, does the word 'literal' have a positive, neutral, or gloomy tone?

Positive

Neutral

Gloomy

Vibrant

Which age group is most likely to use 'literal' in regular conversations?

Kids (3-12)

Teens (13-19)

Adults (20-60)

Seniors (60+)

How likely are you to use 'literal' in a professional email?

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Never

Would you classify 'literal' as formal, casual, or slang?

Formal

Casual

Slang

Archaic

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