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Antonyms for literally
| Grammar : Adv |
| Spell : lit-er-uh-lee |
| Phonetic Transcription : ˈlɪt ər ə li |
Definition of literally
Origin :- 1530s, "in a literal sense," from literal + -ly (2). Erroneously used in reference to metaphors, hyperbole, etc., even by writers like Dryden and Pope, to indicate "what follows must be taken in the strongest admissible sense" (1680s), which is opposite to the word's real meaning and a long step down the path to the modern misuse of it.
- We have come to such a pass with this emphasizer that where the truth would require us to insert with a strong expression 'not literally, of course, but in a manner of speaking', we do not hesitate to insert the very word we ought to be at pains to repudiate; ... such false coin makes honest traffic in words impossible. [Fowler, 1924]
- adv word for word; exactly
- And in the fulness of time it literally with us so came about.
- Extract from : « 'Tis Sixty Years Since » by Charles Francis Adams
- Rank after rank in succession appeared: literally thousands.
- Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White
- I wish it understood, that this is literally my own story, logged by my old shipmate.
- Extract from : « Ned Myers » by James Fenimore Cooper
- In this way it might be literally possible 'to hear a shadow fall athwart the stillness.'
- Extract from : « Heroes of the Telegraph » by J. Munro
- As to your guess, if I answered it literally, I should answer no.
- Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens
- He was just in time to save them, literally, from starvation.
- Extract from : « The Slave Of The Lamp » by Henry Seton Merriman
- He is, as Swinburne says, helmsman and chief: he is literally the Man at the Wheel.
- Extract from : « Alarms and Discursions » by G. K. Chesterton
- The "Banks of Dee" is, you know, literally "Langolee" to slow time.
- Extract from : « The Letters of Robert Burns » by Robert Burns
- Would you believe that I have literally given it for a song?
- Extract from : « Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10) » by Maria Edgeworth
- Any object may be proportioned out (literally, measured) in a similar way.
- Extract from : « Albert Durer » by T. Sturge Moore
Synonyms for literally
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019