How to Use literal in a Sentence

literal

1 of 2 adjective
  • I was using the word in its literal sense.
  • The story he told was basically true, even if it wasn't the literal truth.
  • The plane is a literal ship of state.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 12 June 2026
  • The lessons don’t have to be that literal.
    — Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 8 June 2026
  • From there to the gates of hell – and the literal end of the road.
    — Helen Brown, TheWeek, 30 Apr. 2026
  • This is a literal matter of life or death for many.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 8 Jan. 2026
  • The tour was a literal taste of Barcelona.
    — Eve Chen, USA Today, 6 Feb. 2026
  • That led us to think, in a very literal sense, about parents.
    — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Both as a ballplayer and in the most literal sense.
    — Gabrielle Starr, Boston Herald, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Yes, the title of this movie is very literal.
    — Charlie Harding, Vulture, 13 Mar. 2026
  • The literal job gets done, but the feeling is wrong.
    — Ray Ravaglia, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026
  • Cars lost to time, tucked away in a garage, storage unit or literal barn.
    — Jesus R. Garcia, Houston Chronicle, 5 Apr. 2026
  • In this telling, the war’s opening act was a literal overkill.
    — Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 9 Apr. 2026
  • There is no literal greatest of all time.
    — Bobby Burack Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Apr. 2026
  • For Cuban, that grind is literal.
    — Preston Fore, Fortune, 28 Jan. 2026
  • Shiny chrome made her nails look like literal gemstones.
    — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 25 Mar. 2026
  • Which is true, in a strictly literal sense.
    — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The two translate in more literal ways, too.
    — James Manso, Footwear News, 23 May 2026
  • Ruffles don’t have to be so literal.
    — Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 28 Feb. 2026
  • But Titan was a literal core zone that was erased from the game.
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes, 6 May 2023
  • The first is literal — no karaoke, no bands, no DJs.
    — Mackensy Lunsford, Nashville Tennessean, 30 Dec. 2025
  • The green at Monroe is a literal ski slope.
    — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
  • But the statement is based in quantum physics and is quite literal.
    — Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
  • He’s supposed to be on the side of his literal children.
    — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 26 Dec. 2025
  • The literal translation of the song is a love song.
    — Tribune News Service, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2026
  • The literal translation of the song is a love song.
    — Peter Larsen, Daily News, 22 Apr. 2026
  • The first step to her new normal was literal — Williams had to learn to walk again.
    — Rachel Desantis, Peoplemag, 25 Apr. 2023
  • That served as the point of reference, though not in a literal, one-to-one sense.
    — Christine Mortag, Condé Nast Traveler, 13 May 2026
  • This life can be ended in a literal moment .
    — Ilana Kaplan, People.com, 26 Aug. 2025
  • In this case, stunning can be read in a literal sense, like having an anvil fall on your head.
    — Brendan McAleer, Car and Driver, 21 Apr. 2023

literal

2 of 2 noun
  • Then there is zeugma, when a verb takes two objects, one literal and one figurative.
    — Katy Waldman, New Yorker, 10 June 2026
  • The tides—both the literal and the metaphorical ones within us—become more palpable.
    — Danijela Pilic, Glamour, 3 Jan. 2026
  • But make no mistake, this show about them navigating New York is very different from the literal In the City — by about 15 years.
    — Tom Smyth, Vulture, 25 June 2026
  • Boys who haven’t been invited into those conversations about identity, values, mistakes, or purpose often struggle to write anything beyond the literal.
    — Dr. Liz Doe Stone, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The case studies featured in Unleashed Potential punctuate the conceptual and turn it into literal.
    — Essence, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Each woman gets a piece of the 34-year-old, specifically his literal, beating heart, a graphic testament to the depths of the Grammy-winner’s commitment.
    — Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Tony’s asphyxiation of Christopher makes the metaphorical literal.
    — Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2021

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'literal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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