literalize
literalize verb: to make literal or prosaic.
Verb
literalize (third-person singular simple present literalizes, present participle literalizing, simple past and past participle literalized)
- To make literal or prosaic
- The popular "peephole" style of cover art, suggesting stolen glimpses into exotic interior territories at once psychological and geographical, literalized the voyeuristic appeal of early postwar paperback art.2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 7
- The band seemed at the start to literalize a mysterious piece of writing; its structure was clear when this band played it.2009 January 15, Ben Ratliff, “Club Jazz That Travels a Line Between Old Fashions and New Tastes”, in New York Times
Forms of literalize
| third-person singular present | literalizes |
|---|---|
| present participle | literalizing |
| past participle | literalized |
| past | literalized |
| alternative form | literalise |
Origin of literalize
From literal + -ize.
Words formed from literalize
Questions about literalize
- What does literalize mean?
- Literalize means to make literal or prosaic.
- What part of speech is literalize?
- Literalize is a verb.
- What is the past tense of literalize?
- The past tense of literalize is literalized.
Words near literalize in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: literalize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “literalize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/literalize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.