literate
Americanadjective
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able to read and write.
-
having or showing knowledge of literature, writing, etc.; literary; well-read.
-
characterized by skill, lucidity, polish, or the like.
His writing is literate but cold and clinical.
- Synonyms:
- knowledgeable, well-informed
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having knowledge or skill in a specified field.
Is she computer literate? The boss needs a computer‑literate assistant.
-
having an education; educated.
- Synonyms:
- knowledgeable, well-informed
noun
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a person who can read and write.
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a learned person.
adjective
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able to read and write
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educated; learned
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used to words rather than numbers as a means of expression Compare numerate
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of literate
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin līterātus, litterātus learned, scholarly. See letter 1, -ate 1
Explanation
If you're literate you can read and write, and since you're reading this, that's what you are. Literate can also mean more than just being able to read and write, but being really fluent in a field. If you're "computer literate," you know how to use a computer with ease. If you're up on the latest advances in science, you're "scientifically literate." If people describe you admiringly as literate, they think you're widely read and know a lot about lots of different fields. The opposite of literate is illiterate.
Vocabulary lists containing literate
March: Book Two
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American Street
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"Shelter" by Harlan Coben, Chapters 1–6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Itinerant Literate checks all the boxes in Raffaelli’s analysis.
From Washington Times • Feb. 11, 2018
Literate scholars had surely been recording their bowel movements for eons before paper was plentiful enough to wipe with.
From Slate • Oct. 18, 2017
Literate, articulate and resourceful, Allen had written and distributed what would become one of the nation’s earliest civil-rights-advocacy documents.
From Washington Post • Feb. 21, 2017
Literate people—and, thanks to the printing press, there were more of these than ever before—were eager to hear from philosophers who could give new answers to the ancient questions.
From The New Yorker • Aug. 29, 2016
Literate readers rely on punctuation to guide them through a sentence, and mastering the basics is a nonnegotiable requirement for anyone who writes.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
