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Glite Dictionary
to literalize

to literalize

1 8.0
To take words at their exact meaning rather than as a metaphor
  • verb
  • /ˈlɪtərəˌlaɪz/
  • US
translation icon : literalizar
  • literalize metaphors

Examples

  • Industry then, according to Hamilton, built the prophecy of the designers as a material thing: the future was literalized as detail, as contour, as model, as style.

    Academic text (2000)

  • This horrifying predicament is literalized by Mary's anesthetization, another crucial source of unease in the scene.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Tony's criminal occupation literalizes a belief—albeit not a universal belief—that to afford to live comfortably one must be a crook.

    Academic text (2014)

  • The teacher asked the students to literalize their interpretations of the poem during the discussion.

  • In her latest painting, she literalizes the concept of freedom with bold colors and open spaces.

  • The filmmaker decided to literalize the allegory by showing the characters in a realistic setting.

Antonyms

to spiritualize
1 8.0

To give something a religious meaning or feeling

How Literal

to literalize
  • US
1 8.0
to interpret
386 3.3

Surface Forms

literalize infinitive
literalized past
literalized past participle
literalizing present participle
literalizes third person singular

Morphology

literalize = literal (transparent) = literal + ize

Productive verb formation from the adjective 'literal' using the regular suffix '-ize' meaning 'to make or render literal'.

Etymology

The word literalize comes from literal, which comes from an old idea of 'letter' or the exact written words. So to literalize something is to make it mean only the 'letter' or exact words, not a deeper or figurative meaning.