# literally

Pronunciation: US say "LIT-ur-uh-lee" /ˈlɪtəɹəli/; UK say "LIT-uh-ruh-lee" /ˈlɪtəɹəli/

## Adverb

1. Word for word, or in the exact, basic sense of the words, without exaggeration or figurative meaning.
   - Simple: Exactly as the words say, word for word, not as a way of speaking.
   - _The name Montenegro literally means "black mountain."_
   - _The idiom sounded strange because the subtitles translated it literally._
2. Used informally for emphasis, even with statements not meant word for word, or simply to add drama to what is said.
   - Simple: Used to make what you say sound stronger, even when it is not exactly true.
   - _The phone has been literally ringing off the hook since the ad aired._
   - _We were literally glued to the screen for the entire final episode._
3. Really and not just as a figure of speech; used to show that an expression that is usually an idiom or metaphor is true in its exact sense, sometimes as a pun.
   - Simple: Really, not just as a way of speaking. People use it when a common saying is actually true.
   - _The team literally missed the boat; it sailed at noon, an hour before they reached the dock._
   - _When she says her heart stopped, she means it literally: paramedics restarted it on the way to the hospital._
4. Used as a generic downtoner meaning just or merely, playing down what is described. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Used like 'just' or 'only' to make something sound small or simple.
   - _Don't worry about the paperwork; it's literally one page._
   - _The fix was literally a single line of code._

## Origin

Middle English already had "litteraly"; the word sits beside "literal" and "letter," and on the surface it is "literal" plus the suffix "-ly."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/literally (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).