literally

/ˈlɪtərəli/

adverblit · er · al · ly

Think: **LIT + ER + AL + LY** — “The lamp is **LIT**, then you **ER**… and it’s **AL** true, **LY** (like ‘ly’ at the end of many adverbs).”

Yes, it's literally. Don’t swap the middle vowels: it’s **lit-er-** (…**er**…), not **lit-er-** with an extra **a** or missing **e**.

Definitions

  1. adverbin a literal or exact sense; word-for-word; not figurative
  2. adverb(informal, often considered incorrect) used for emphasis even when the statement is not literally true

Examples

  • “Take the instructions literally, and don’t add any extra steps.”
  • “The sign literally says “No Entry,” so we can’t go through that door.”
  • “He was so surprised he literally dropped his phone—right onto the floor.”

Synonyms

exactlypreciselyword-for-wordstrictlyverbatim

Antonyms

figuratively

Translations

ES literalmentePT literalmenteFR littéralement

Common misspellings

litterallyliteralleyliteralyliterellylitrallylitteralyliterlly

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abandonedAbigailabrahamabsenceabsencesabsolutely
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