literalness
1
6.9
- noun
- /ˈlɪtərəlnəs/
:
literalidad
- The situation is even more pronounced in a locale such as Somalia, where factions and famine have destroyed the state and now threaten, with a chilling literalness, to also destroy the internal civil population itself.
Examples
-
"Typical computer literalness: how could a person have never existed if the computer had parameters to match?"
Fiction book (2000) -
In the case of Hocquard, however, rupture meant not so much a break with tradition as a distinct mode of experimental writing characterized by a resistance to metaphor and a decisive embrace of the literalness of language.
Academic text (2002) -
Jesus states if you want literalness, 'the first will be last,' so all of old Israel will recognize Him before the Jews last.
Blog text (6) -
She knew they were going to see just such giants, but somehow their literalness hadn't registered.
Fiction book (1992) -
Old metaphors are constantly dying off into literalness, and then serving as a platform and foil for new metaphors.
Academic text (1990) -
The literalness of the subject, the imbalance of the composition, and the inappropriateness of the dining room's brown walls from the start made the venture dowdy.
Academic text (1994) -
Modern democracy debasingly spiritualizes politics by discounting the importance of the roots of the human experience in the literalness and metaphor of the body as one half of the composite nature of man.
Academic text (2002) -
Her literalness often led her to take jokes seriously, missing the humor entirely.
-
The teacher appreciated his students' literalness, as it made their interpretations clear and straightforward.
-
In art criticism, a focus on literalness can sometimes overshadow deeper meanings and interpretations.
Synonyms
3
4.9
People understand words in their exact meaning without hidden or deeper ideas
2
7.4
A habit of understanding words in their simple direct meaning rather than a deeper meaning
A way of understanding words exactly without looking for hidden meaning
Antonyms
How Literal
1
6.9
2
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Literalness comes from the Latin word littera meaning 'letter', which is the same idea behind the English word letter. So literalness is about taking words exactly as written, paying attention to the 'letters' and not looking for extra meaning.