literally
815
3.5
- adverb
- /ˈlɪtərəli/
- Informal
:
literalmente
- When they said big, they literally meant massive.
- quite literally
- literally thousands
- literally and figuratively
It just looks like this and literally my reaction was this.
- It just looks like this and literally my reaction was this.
- Oh my God, this is literally eating my room.
- Now that is literally so far from the truth.
- This car will literally tell you the news.
- I have friends, literally, who are born without limbs.
- Now he's literally doing it on his own.
- The highlight is literally a white cream stick.
- Here in Los Angeles, it's literally all anybody's talking about.
- If only, but this is literally so cute.
Examples
-
It's something that will literally blow your mind.
-
This is literally the best water you have ever had in your life.
-
Now that is literally so far from the truth.
-
I have needed to do for literally four months now.
-
No, your eyes are literally so blue right now.
-
But when the pandemic hit, I literally lost my dream job.
-
Besides, saving the whales is literally the reason why I became a lawyer.
-
You know, now that you mention it, I have noticed that you've been here literally every day for the past three years.
-
When some of Mahoe's descendants saw the broken glass, they were literally moved to tears.
Academic text (2008) -
When they said big, they literally meant massive.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Shows that something is true or certain
∞
1.0
To show that something is really true even if surprising
∞
1.0
Shows that something is true, often when it is different from what was said
Antonyms
How Emphatic
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Literally comes from Latin littera 'letter', the same root as the familiar English word letter, and originally meant 'in the letters' or 'word for word'. A helpful way to remember the modern emphatic use is that people now say literally like a strong shout to show something felt very real or extreme, even when it is an exaggeration.