"Literally" Vs "In the true sense of the word"

The Cambridge and other dictionaries say that "literally" can be used as an emphasis on something. But there is another term: "in the true sense of the word", which to mea has a quite similar meaning to "literally" in this sense.

I have made two examples in order to define whether they mean the same or not:

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  1. You Don't know him, but I have socialized with him for over 15 years. He's ___________________ a gentleman.
     
  
  

  
  

  
  

a. literally

b. in the true sense of the word

Note: I have not found any reliable dictionary including this term, but Ngram acknowledges that there is such a term in English. (I thought it might be a direct translation from another language to English.)

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  2. I studied for two years and finally I managed to pass that exam; that was ________________ a difficult exam.
     
  
  

  
  

  
  

a. literally
b. in the true sense of the word

To me, both choices work equally the same in both examples above. I was wondering if I can use the these options interchangeably in my examples without any considerable change in meaning?

Answer

While "literally" and "in the true sense of the word" can mean essentially the same thing, they do not both always suit the same situations and are not interchangeable in the same sentence structure.

For example, I would probably not say:

He's literally a gentleman.

This is because "gentleman" has more than one "literal" meaning - one dictionary definition says it is "a polite or formal way of referring to a man". Saying "he's literally a gentleman" is like saying "he's literally male".

I would be more likely to say:

He's a gentleman in the true sense of the word.

As you can see, the structure of the sentence is different for a start, which is why they are not strictly "interchangeable". But this expression would be understood in this context because, while there are multiple definitions of "gentleman", it is clear you are referring to one specific "sense".

Referring to your second example, I would personally not say:

That was literally a difficult exam.

The word "literal" is heavily overused these days, sometimes incorrectly. Among people that care about language, its overuse is highly divisive.

The primary definition of "literally" is to make it clear you are not using a word or expression figuratively. An exam could not be figuratively difficult, and for that reason, many (including myself) would object to that usage. By the same reasoning, the phrase "in the true sense of the word" would be redundant too as there is no other "sense" of the word "difficult".

Others may disagree, as many dictionaries acknowledge a secondary use of "literally" to simply emphasise a statement, and some (but not all) even acknowledging that the word can be used to mean figurative - the complete opposite of its primary definition! I am not simply being pedantic, but as the word is sometimes misused, and even when one dictionary may support a particular use it is still divisive, I would caution an English language learner not to overuse it, because if native speakers can't even agree on its proper use then learners have little chance of getting it right!