analphabetic

American  

[an-al-fuh-bet-ik, an-al-] / ˌæn æl fəˈbɛt ɪk, ænˌæl- /

adjective

1. not alphabetic.

   an analphabetic arrangement of letters.

2. unable to read or write; illiterate.

   analphabetic peoples.

3. Phonetics. of or constituting a system of phonetic transcription, as the one devised by Otto Jespersen, that for each sound indicates by separate sets of symbols the articulator, the point of articulation, and the size and shape of the mouth opening.

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noun

1. an illiterate person; analphabet.

analphabetic British  

/ ænˌæl-, ˌænælfəˈbɛtɪk /

adjective

1. not in alphabetical order

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noun

1. a less common word for illiterate

Other Word Forms

• analphabetically adverb

Etymology

Origin of analphabetic

1660–70; < Greek analphábēt ( os ) not knowing the alphabet ( an- an- ¹ + alphábēt ( os ) alphabet + -os adj. suffix) + -ic

Example Sentences

The dark strings and sinister laughing that open the song augur ill for Europe if its leaders remain rigid in their approach to the crisis: “Eurosceptic, analphabetic/ Try not to be hermetic.”

From Time

So not a few of the Amirs of Sind were analphabetic and seemed rather proud of it: "a Baloch cannot write, but he always carries a signet-ring."

From Project Gutenberg