The previous definition was “in a literal sense” but Gen Z has morphed, changed, and exacerbated the use of this word so that it now means figuratively.
Gen Z-er: Dude I am literally dying right now
Gen X: Should I call an ambulance?? What’s wrong??? Are you okay????
Gen Z-er: Huh? No nothing is wrong but this meme I looked at made me kinda smile.
Means to exaggerate. Anyone who says it's "a much misused adverb, often for emphasis" is literally a piece of faecal matter so big it encompasses the whole observable universe, literally.
She was so repulsively ugly that I literally shat my own eyeballs, stitched them to my nipples and proceeded to lactate blood through my pupils.