literalize

English

Alternative forms

• literalise

Etymology

literal +‎ -ize

Verb

literalize (third-person singular simple present literalizes, present participle literalizing, simple past and past participle literalized)

1. To make literal or prosaic
   • 2001, Susan Stryker, Queer Pulp, page 7:

     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.

   • 2009 January 15, Ben Ratliff, “Club Jazz That Travels a Line Between Old Fashions and New Tastes”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     The band seemed at the start to literalize a mysterious piece of writing; its structure was clear when this band played it.

Derived terms

• literalization

Anagrams

• alliterize