literature has 1 distinct synonym spread across 1 of its 4 senses. Each sense below keeps its own list, because a synonym belongs to a meaning and not to a word: swapping one sense's substitute into another sense's sentence is how a thesaurus makes writing worse. WordNet records no antonym for it — antonymy is a relation between word forms rather than concepts, so it is deliberately sparse.
Counts are distinct word forms across every sense. A synonym that appears under three senses is counted once here and shown three times below, under each sense it belongs to.
creative writing of recognized artistic value
Synonyms, antonyms and the broader and narrower relations for literature come from Princeton University’s WordNet. Full sources and licences.
published writings in a particular style on a particular subject
“the technical literature”
the profession or art of a writer
“her place in literature is secure”