literal
/ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/
"literal" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“literal” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,077 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,077
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not taking liberties; etymonic rather tha...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | literal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #10,077 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “literal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for literal is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,077 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for literal, with forms such as "ilteral", "lietral", and "litearl". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "literary", "literate", "littoral", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis or literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera or litera (“a letter”). See letter. The correct English form is literal, spelled L-I-T-E-R-A-L.
Definition
- 1Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not taking liberties; etymonic rather than idiomatic.
- 2Actual, real, physical.
- 3That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given text is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it.
- 4Following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.
- 5Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation.
- 6Unimaginative; matter-of-fact; literal-minded.
- 7Used nonliterally as an intensifier. See literally for usage notes.
- 8Misspelling of littoral.
Etymology
From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis or literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera or litera (“a letter”). See letter.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ilteral,lietral,litearl,literall,literla,literral,litreal,litteral,lliteral,ltieral
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of literal - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “literal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-T-E-R-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “literary” - see the side-by-side comparison. literal vs literary
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.