textualist

American  

[teks-choo-uh-list] / ˈtɛks tʃu ə lɪst /

noun

1. a person who adheres closely to a text, especially of the Scriptures.

2. a person who is well versed in the text of the Scriptures.

3. Law. a person who adheres to the doctrine that a legal document or statute should be interpreted by determining the relatively objective ordinary meaning of its words and phrases.

   Justice Hugo Black took a literal reading of the Bill of Rights, leading to his reputation as a textualist.

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Etymology

Origin of textualist

First recorded in 1620–30; textual + -ist

Example Sentences

Because the definition of fish in this statute includes fish, crustaceans, and amphibians, a textualist would read invertebrate and come to the conclusion that the statute implied aquatic or marine invertebrates.

From Slate

“Dune” made it clear that Villeneuve isn’t that kind of textualist.

From New York Times

According to the textualist position associated with the late Justice Antonin Scalia, legal words mean what they say.

From Seattle Times

Instead, Kagan is portraying herself as a defender of a textualist status quo threatened by theories like the major-questions doctrine.

From Slate

But if we go by a rigid textualist reading of the 22nd Amendment, it could happen.

From Slate