literal
taking words in their most basic sense, without metaphor or exaggeration
Word origin: From Latin littera, letter.
Literal in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing literal in a sentence.
He gave a literal translation of the poem, which lost much of its beauty.
A literal translation of the idiom made no sense in English, so the editor opted for an equivalent expression instead.
Using “literal” well
Literal means taking words in their plainest, most exact sense, free of metaphor or exaggeration. Avoid the colloquial misuse of literally to mean figuratively, which inverts the word's meaning.
More GRE words starting with L
liable to change frequently and unpredictably; emotionally unstable
extremely complicated and full of confusing twists and turns
tearful or given to weeping; mournful
lacking enthusiasm, effort, or determination; carelessly lazy
lacking in vitality, force, or conviction; not impressive
using very few words; terse to the point of seeming blunt
one who falls behind or lags noticeably slower than others
to criticize or scold harshly
Questions about “literal”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.