How to Use literally in a Sentence

literally

adverb

• The story he told was basically true, even if it wasn't literally true.
• He's a sailor who knows his ropes, literally and figuratively.
• Many words can be used both literally and figuratively.
• He took her comments literally.
• This quite literally might be the best Traeger grill sale for the rest of the year.
  — John Thompson, Men's Health, 11 Oct. 2022
• Here is a guy who literally begs to get punched in the face.
  — John Semley, WIRED, 9 Oct. 2023
• The course is owned by Trump and literally sits in the middle of the city of West Palm Beach.
  — Donald J. Mihalek, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2024
• The goal is to give the bulbs enough time to grow roots before the ground freezes and to literally chill out.
  — Nicole Bradley, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Sep. 2022
• Later in the footage, the walls start to close in… literally.
  — Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 21 July 2022
• And that’s a parcel that is literally one block from the park.
  — Kenneth R. Gosselin, Hartford Courant, 17 Jan. 2024
• And while the dress with the sprinkles and the chocolate sauce is cute and clever, the hat literally is the cherry on top.
  — Marisa Lascala, Good Housekeeping, 13 June 2022
• The medallion was literally our key to life on the ship.
  — Michael Goldstein, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2024
• My team has been working around-the-clock, literally around-the-clock.
  — Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, 24 Feb. 2024
• Jim Field Smith came up with the idea of the show, like literally a one- page pitch almost.
  — K.j. Yossman, Variety, 4 Aug. 2023
• The bar for the Blue Room Christmas tree is high — literally.
  — Andrea Salcedo, Washington Post, 27 Nov. 2023
• And his family, this is literally in the first pages of the book, gives up on him.
  — CBS News, 7 Dec. 2022
• But the biggest draws here is the Alpine Spa, literally.
  — Carole Sovocool, Robb Report, 22 Dec. 2023
• The origin story of the Wicked Witch of the West hopes to be, quite literally, movie magic.
  — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 17 May 2024
• So the phrase sort of came to me literally on a date, which is quite psychotic.
  — Rose Eden, SPIN, 13 Feb. 2024
• The idea that covers the most ground, literally, is a mantle plume.
  — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 5 Jan. 2023
• There have been literally hundreds of these, and the best ones were compiled on this record.
  — Mia Hughes, SPIN, 30 Jan. 2023
• But for Garner, the best part is literally the icing on the cake–er bar.
  — Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 29 Sep. 2023
• The beauty of the area around the ArtsPark is that there is something for literally every taste.
  — Ben Crandell, Sun Sentinel, 2 Oct. 2022
• The world is ablaze and people are literally dropping dead from the heat.
  — Raven Smith, Vogue, 20 July 2022
• This is literally the third largest mass shooting in the United States this year.
  — Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, 16 July 2024
• The biggest target for Auburn literally has the school in his name.
  — Nick Alvarez | [e-mail], al, 17 June 2022
• For Church, getting the call to play the first edition in 2018 was literally life-changing.
  — Brad Sanders, Chron, 3 Jan. 2023
• And, of course, a phone or iPad cannot literally rot someone’s brain.
  — Anna North, Vox, 5 Sep. 2024
• Although designed for speed, the shoes are lightweight with a firmer low-profile cushion bed that (literally) puts more spring in your step — or run.
  — Kayla Kitts, Travel + Leisure, 1 Feb. 2025
• Because Sifnos literally sits on a gold mine, and its mineral wealth helped gild the island’s 237 churches.
  — Tristan Rutherford, Robb Report, 1 Feb. 2025

Last Updated: 17 Feb 2025