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Looking for a word that means someone's likelihood to take things literally

English Language & Usage Asked on April 4, 2021

I’m trying to find a word that means a person’s ability to take things literally.

Much like how persuade would be persuasibility.

Example Sentence: "Her ___ is high. She takes things too literally"

Edit: I want a word that’s only tied to a person’s ability to interpret things literally. Not a word that’s tied to their capacity to trust.

2 Answers

It's possible you're thinking of gullibility, a tendency to trust whatever you're told, or easily duped. Definition at TFD.

Answered by Jim Mack on April 4, 2021

A frustrating question. She is unquestioning, credulous, uncritical, literal, over-literal, trusting, and naive. All these are easily checked in dictionaries and I do not tediously repeat definitions here.

But all these are adjectives, and you seem to ask for a noun. Weirdly, I find no appropriate noun to correspond to any of these adjectives.

Naivety is too wide a term, going well beyond the literate aspect you want. gullibity is a closely related term but is too strongly associated with being purposefully misled or deceived, so does not quite fit your specification.

Perhaps others will find a noun.

Answered by Anton on April 4, 2021

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