literalize

American  

[lit-er-uh-lahyz] / ˈlɪt ər əˌlaɪz /

especially British, literalise

verb (used with object)

literalized, literalizing

1. to make literal; interpret literally.

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Other Word Forms

• literalization noun
• literalizer noun
• unliteralized adjective

Etymology

Origin of literalize

First recorded in 1820–30; literal + -ize

Example Sentences

And as if to literalize this, the Light Phone III even has a small clickable wheel on one side that brightens or dims the screen, and engages a flashlight if depressed.

From Slate • Apr. 17, 2025

Flahive: There’s something about being forced to externalize things and literalize things that actually made certain things feel bigger in a way that was exciting and allowed you to be a little bit more playful.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 19, 2022

Something about Knott froze in childhood, leaving a body of work marked by the child’s tendency to literalize imaginative schemes.

From The New Yorker • Mar. 27, 2017

But as elliptical as his prose can sometimes be, Milch also has a way of using his characters’ convoluted talk to literalize the way they’re figuring themselves out.

From Time • Jan. 27, 2012

Whether we believe in literal fire or not, we certainly ought to ask for a reason for the Master's failure to literalize the figurative word "fire."

From The Great Doctrines of the Bible by Evans, William