adverb🔗ShareWord for word; not figuratively; not as an idiom or metaphor"When I saw on the news that there would be no school tomorrow because of the snowstorm, I literally jumped for joy, and hit my head on the ceiling fan."languagewordessentialChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
adverb🔗Share(degree, contranym) Used non-literally as an intensifier for figurative statements: virtually, so to speak (often considered incorrect; see usage notes)"He was so surprised, he literally jumped twenty feet in the air."languagelinguisticsgrammarworddegreeessentialChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
adverb🔗ShareUsed to intensify or dramatise non-figurative statements; tending towards a meaningless filler word in repeated use."I had no idea, so I was literally guessing."languagewordcommunicationlinguisticsessentialChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
adverb🔗ShareUsed as a generic downtoner: just, merely."My brother was literally just watching TV, not doing anything else. "languagelinguisticsessentialChat with AIVocabulary GamePractice Reading
