functional illiterate

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See synonyms for: functional illiteracy on Thesaurus.com

noun

a person with some basic education who still falls short of a minimum standard of literacy or whose reading and writing skills are inadequate to everyday needs.

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Origin of functional illiterate

First recorded in 1945–50

OTHER WORDS FROM functional illiterate

functional illiteracy, nounfunctionally illiterate, adjective

Words nearby functional illiterate

functional disease, functional disorder, functional food, functional group, functional hypertrophy, functional illiterate, functional imperative, functionalism, functional isomer, functionalist, functionality

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use functional illiterate in a sentence

For my technologically illiterate mother, the idea of paying bills online provokes as much anxiety as throwing something away.
I’m a Digital Hoarder|Lizzie Crocker|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Her mother was illiterate, but she secured a tutor for both her sons and her daughters, and Juana could read by the age of 3.
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun|Katie Baker|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Southland was an incredibly functional show where everyone wanted to be there,” says McKenzie.
Ben McKenzie’s Journey From Reluctant Teen Idol on ‘The O.C.’ to Sheriff of ‘Gotham’|Marlow Stern|November 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As with Xerox copier, 3-D printers have become smaller, cheaper, and more functional over time.
Pioneers in Printing|The Daily Beast|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Essentially he is arguing that there are functional trade-offs in developmental biology.
Why Aristotle Deserves A Posthumous Nobel|Nick Romeo|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is low in chronic interstitial nephritis, diabetes insipidus, and many functional nervous disorders.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
An estimation of the solids, therefore, furnishes an important clue to the functional efficiency of the kidneys.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
It is an important point in diagnosis between functional and organic conditions.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
The second step taken arose from the necessity of making this speech of the illiterate capable of elevated expression.
Frdric Mistral|Charles Alfred Downer
P3 in specimens of old adult Eutamias, shows wear, thus suggesting that P3 is functional in older chipmunks.
Genera and Subgenera of Chipmunks|John A. White

British Dictionary definitions for functional illiterate

functional illiterate

noun

a person whose literacy is insufficient for most work and normal daily situations

Derived forms of functional illiterate

functional illiteracy, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012