literary
- 1Having to do with books, stories, and writing as an art.
Like how the word "musical" describes things about music.
She joined a literary club at her school.
The town holds a literary festival every spring.
Note
- 2Used in serious or artistic writing instead of in everyday talk.
Like wearing a suit instead of jeans: some words are dressed up for formal writing.
His prose has a literary quality that you rarely hear in conversation.
She chose a more literary phrasing for the poem's closing line.
Similarformal, elevated, bookish
Oppositecolloquial, informal, conversational
Note
- 3Having to do with writers and the work of writing books.
She built a successful literary career over three decades.
He works as a literary agent for new novelists.
Similarwriterly
Note
- 4Knowing a lot about books, authors, and writing.
Ask Dad who wrote that poem, because he is the most literary person in our family.
You don't have to be literary to join our book club, because the questions are simple.
Similarwell-read, erudite, learned, lettered, cultured
Oppositeunlettered, unread, uncultured
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Practice
Can you tell the meanings of literary apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
It comes from the French word littéraire.