literally
English dictionary entry
Meanings
adv
- Word for word, exactly as stated.
- Without overstatement or understatement, or false or misleading words.
- With phrasings that might normally be used or understood as figurative: truly; not figuratively; not as an idiom or metaphor.
- Draws attention to a pun or other wordplay involving an idiom.
- As an intensifier.
- Used as a general intensifier or dramatiser, sometimes tending towards a meaningless filler.
- Used as an intensifier with statements or terms that are in fact meant figuratively and not word for word as stated.
- Used as a generic downtoner: just, merely.
Pronunciation
/ˈlɪtəɹəli/
/ˈlɪtɹəli/
/ˈlɪt͡ʃɹəli/
LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-Literally.wav
/ˈlɪtəɹli/
En-us-literally.ogg
LL-Q1860 (eng)-Zazollo-literally.wav
Word forms
literally
more literally
most literally
lit.
litterally
Etymology
From Middle English litteraly. See literal and letter. By surface analysis, literal + -ly.
Synonyms
actually
really
unfiguratively
unmetaphorically
above a bit
all things considered
as a matter of fact
by right
certainly
come to think of it
de facto
definitely
de jure
fact is
forsooth
frankly
honestly
in actuality
in all honesty
indubitably
in fact
in faith
in point of fact
in reality
in truth
indeed
legitimately
literally
properly
right
simply
soothfast
soothly
surely
to be frank
to be honest
TBH
to tell the truth
truly
truthfully
undoubtedly
verily
very much
wis
merely
barely
but
just
no more than
nothing but
only
Antonyms
Derived words
Translations
Afrikaans: letterlik
Arabic: حَرْفِيًّا
Arabic: بِٱلْحَرْف
Arabic: حَرْفِيَّا
Armenian: բառացիորեն
Catalan: literalment
Chinese Mandarin: 按照字面
Czech: doslova
Danish: bogstavelig talt
Danish: bogstaveligt talt
Danish: bogstavelig
Danish: bogstaveligt
Danish: bogstavelig taget
Danish: bogstaveligt taget
Dutch: letterlijk
Esperanto: laŭlitere
Esperanto: laŭvorte
Faroese: bókstavliga
Finnish: kirjaimellisesti
Finnish: sananmukaisesti
French: littéralement
French: textuellement
French: texto
French: mot à mot
Galician: literalmente
Georgian: სიტყვასიტყვით
Georgian: პირდაპირი მნიშვნელობით
Georgian: პირდაპირი გაგებით
German: wörtlich
German: buchstäblich
Greek: κυριολεκτικά
Greek: κατά γράμμα
Hebrew: פְּשׁוּטוֹ כְּמַשְׁמָעוֹ
Hebrew: בְּאֹפֶן מִלּוּלִי
Hungarian: szó szerint
Hungarian: szabályosan
Hungarian: szóról szóra
Icelandic: bókstaflega
Italian: letteralmente
Japanese: 文字通り
Japanese: 額面通り
Latin: ad verbum
Macedonian: буквално
Malayalam: അക്ഷരാർത്ഥത്തിൽ
Norwegian Bokmål: bokstavelig
Norwegian Nynorsk: bokstaveleg
Persian: لفظا
Polish: dosłownie
Portuguese: literalmente
Romanian: literalmente
Russian: буква́льно
Russian: досло́вно
Serbo-Croatian: bukvalno
Serbo-Croatian: doslovno
Serbo-Croatian: doslovce
Serbo-Croatian: tačno tako
Slovak: doslova
Spanish: literalmente
Spanish: literal
Spanish: textualmente
Swedish: bokstavligen
Swedish: bokstavligt talat
Tatar: сүзгә-сүз
Tatar: һич үзгәртмичә
Tatar: сүзен сүзгә
Turkish: harfiyen
Turkish: resmen
Ukrainian: буква́льно
Ukrainian: літера́льно
Ukrainian: у прямо́му се́нсі
Urdu: لفظی معنی
Walloon: mot po mot
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.