Literalist: meaning, definitions and examples

📜
Add to dictionary

literalist

 

[ ˈlɪt(ə)rəlɪst ]

Noun
Context #1 | Noun

person

A person who interprets words in their literal sense without taking into account any metaphorical or symbolic meaning.

Synonyms

letter-of-the-law person, literal-minded person

Examples of usage

  • He is a literalist who always follows the exact words of the law.
  • The literalist insisted on reading the text word for word without any interpretation.

Translations

Translations of the word "literalist" in other languages:

🇵🇹 literalista

🇮🇳 शाब्दिकतावादी

🇩🇪 Literalist

🇮🇩 literal

🇺🇦 буквалізм

🇵🇱 literalista

🇯🇵 文字通りの人 (moji doori no hito)

🇫🇷 littéraliste

🇪🇸 literalista

🇹🇷 literalist

🇰🇷 문자주의자 (munja juui ja)

🇸🇦 حرفي (harfi)

🇨🇿 literalista

🇸🇰 literalista

🇨🇳 字面主义者 (zìmiàn zhǔyì zhě)

🇸🇮 literalist

🇮🇸 bókstafstrúarmaður

🇰🇿 сөзбе-сөз (sozbe-soz)

🇬🇪 ლიტერალისტი (literalisti)

🇦🇿 literalist

🇲🇽 literalista

Etymology

The term 'literalist' originated from the word 'literal', which comes from the Middle English 'literal', from the Old French 'literel' and from the Late Latin 'literalis', meaning 'of or relating to letters'. The suffix '-ist' is used to denote a person who practices or is concerned with a particular thing, in this case, interpreting words literally.

See also: literalistic, literally.