literalism.

Strict adherence to literal wording or meaning rather than figurative or contextual interpretation.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• textual literalism
• interpretive literalism

On the page

Textual literalism overlooked the phrase’s conventional figurative use.

The discussion distinguished interpretive literalism from careful attention to wording.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: Usually uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: artistic orientation, figurative interpretation, life writing, narrative knowledge. Disciplines: literary writing, literary analysis, advanced general English. Commonness: moderately common.