literalness

Definitions

The quality of being literal or strictly following the exact words or primary meaning of something.

A lack of imagination or metaphor; a tendency to interpret language or events in a factual, matter-of-fact way.

Examples

The literalness of his interpretation caused him to miss the subtle irony in her tone.

She struggled with the literalness of the instructions, unable to grasp the underlying creative intent.

There is a certain charm in the literalness with which children view the world.

Synonyms

exactness precision accuracy verbatimness strictness factuality literalism

Antonyms

figurative metaphorical imaginative poetic loose inaccuracy ambiguity