<p><strong>Adjective:</strong></p><ul><li>in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words;</li><li>not figurative or metaphorical: the literal meaning of a word.</li><li>following the words of the original very closely and exactly: a literal translation of Goethe.</li><li>true to fact; not exaggerated; actual or factual: a literal description of conditions.</li><li>Synonyms: reliable, exact, truthful.</li><li>being actually such, without exaggeration or inaccuracy: the literal extermination of a city.</li><li>(of persons) tending to construe words in the strict sense or in an unimaginative way; matter-of-fact; prosaic.</li><li>of or relating to the letters of the alphabet.</li><li>of the nature of letters.</li><li>expressed by letters.</li><li>affecting a letter or letters: a literal error.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun:</strong></p><ul><li>a typographical error, especially involving a single letter.</li></ul>