literal

IPA: ɫˈɪtɝʌɫ

(epigraphy, typography) A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.
(programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.
(logic) A propositional variable or the negation of a propositional variable. ᵂᵖ

Exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation; according to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical, and etymonic rather than idiomatic.
Following the letter or exact words; not free; not taking liberties
(theology) (broadly) That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given scripture is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it; (specifically) following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation
(uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet)
(of a person) Unimaginative; matter-of-fact
(proscribed) Used non-literally as an intensifier; see literally for usage notes.

Examples of "literal" in Sentences

The use of the word literal is so egregiously wrong, I thought perhaps it had to be on purpose.
Nevertheless, I'm attracted to the term literal because it leads to another useful concept, "liberal" cartooning.
The multinational energy and oil giant made the essence of the term literal by turning its exhibition hall on the Olympic Green into a monstrous Chia pet.
She's "a girl cut in two," still infatuated with the man who rejected her, and Chabrol makes the title literal when she becomes part of a magic act in the final scene.
‘Lateral thinking’ would be helped, too, by the neural arrangement in the right brain—the sideways extension of axons even makes the phrase literal rather than figurative.
My rooskie translations for habeas corpus, by the way, can be rendered in literal English as “let it be so, that they shall present the soul,” and “(we decree) that thou should bring forth thebody.”
But an alarm should sound whenever the word "literal" is used in this context, whether as a badge of pride "I just believe in reading the Bible literally" or as a hint that low-browed fundamentalists are lurking nearby.