literalizing
Taking words literally
Literalizing is making something literal—taking what was figurative, abstract, or metaphorical and giving it concrete form.
A film might literalize a character's inner demons by showing actual monsters.
A protest literalizes outrage by putting bodies in the street.
The adaptation literalizes the novel's metaphors in ways that feel heavy-handed.
Solid building mixture
- explicitClearly and directly expressed
- directUndeviating or to guide
- factualGrounded in truth
- straightforwardClear and uncomplicated
unambiguous · exact · precise · specific · definite · clear-cut · plain · unequivocal
In identical wording
- word-for-wordExactly as stated
- textualOf written content
- faithfulConsistently loyal and true
- renderingInterpretive depiction or performance
transliteration · gloss · fidelity · equivalence · close · unembellished · unadorned · accuracy
concrete
Solid building mixture
straightforward · unambiguous · exact · precise · specific · definite · clear-cut · plain · unequivocal · objective
verbatim
In identical wording
- word-for-wordExactly as stated
- textualOf written content
- faithfulConsistently loyal and true
rendering · transliteration · gloss · fidelity · equivalence · close · unembellished · unadorned · accuracy · consistency
literalizingallegorizing
Representing abstractly through narrative
symbolizing · abstracting · spiritualizing · mythologizing · reading between the lines
literalizingabstracting
Condensing to essentials
generalizing · conceptualizing · idealizing · dematerializing · spiritualizing
literal, literate, literally, liter, liters, literalness, literalism, literalist, literates