| Noun | 1. | literal - a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kindmistake, error - part of a statement that is not correct; "the book was full of errors" | |
| Adj. | 1. | literal - being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something; "her actual motive"; "a literal solitude like a desert"- G.K.Chesterton; "a genuine dilemma"true - consistent with fact or reality; not false; "the story is true"; "it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true"- B. Russell; "the true meaning of the statement" | |
| 2. | literal - without interpretation or embellishment; "a literal translation of the scene before him"exact - marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target" | |
| 3. | literal - limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text; "a literal translation"exact - marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target" figurative, nonliteral - (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech; "figurative language" | |
| 4. | literal - lacking stylistic embellishment; "a literal description"; "wrote good but plain prose"; "a plain unadorned account of the coronation"; "a forthright unembellished style" | |
| 5. | literal - of the clearest kind; usually used for emphasis; "it's the literal truth"; "a matter of investment, pure and simple"plain - not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building" | |
| 6. | literal - (of a translation) corresponding word for word with the original; "literal translation of the article"; "an awkward word-for-word translation"exact - marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target" | |