Adjacent Words

Literally definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LIT'ERALLY, adv.
1. According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively. A man and his wife cannot be literally one flesh.
2. With close adherence to words; word by word.
So wild and ungovernable a poet cannot be translated literally.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adv
1: in a literal sense; "literally translated"; "he said so literally" [ant: figuratively]
2: (intensifier before a figurative expression) without exaggeration; "our eyes were literally pinned to TV during the Gulf War"

Merriam Webster's

adverb Date: 1533 1. in a literal sense or manner ; actually <took the remark literally> <was literally insane> 2. in effect ; virtually <will literally turn the world upside down to combat cruelty or injustice — Norman Cousins> Usage: Since some people take sense 2 to be the opposite of sense 1, it has been frequently criticized as a misuse. Instead, the use is pure hyperbole intended to gain emphasis, but it often appears in contexts where no additional emphasis is necessary.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Literally Lit"er*al*ly, adv. 1. According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively; as, a man and his wife can not be literally one flesh. 2. With close adherence to words; word by word. So wild and ungovernable a poet can not be translated literally. --Dryden.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. You can use literally to emphasize a statement. Some careful speakers of English think that this use is incorrect. We've got to get the economy under control or it will literally eat us up... The views are literally breath-taking. ADV: ADV with cl/group (not last in cl), ADV before v [emphasis] 2. You use literally to emphasize that what you are saying is true, even though it seems exaggerated or surprising. Putting on an opera is a tremendous enterprise involving literally hundreds of people... I literally crawled to the car. ADV: ADV with cl/group (not last in cl), ADV before v [emphasis] 3. If a word or expression is translated literally, its most simple or basic meaning is translated. The word 'volk' translates literally as 'folk'... A stanza is, literally, a room. ADV: ADV with v, ADV with cl 4. If you take something literally, you think that a word or expression is being used with its most simple or basic meaning. If you tell a person to 'step on it' or 'throw on your coat,' they may take you literally, with disastrous consequences. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

ad. 1. Really, actually. 2. Exactly, precisely, rigorously, strictly.

Moby Thesaurus

absolutely, actually, closely, dead, definitely, direct, directly, even, exactly, expressly, faithfully, in all respects, in every respect, in fact, ipsissimis verbis, just, literatim, plumb, point-blank, positively, precisely, really, right, rigidly, rigorously, square, squarely, straight, strictly, to the letter, truly, undeviatingly, unerringly, verbally, verbatim, verbatim et litteratim, word by word, word for word