illiteracy
[ih-lit-er-uh-see]
- a lack of ability to read and write.
- the state of being illiterate; lack of any or enough education.
- a mistake in writing or speaking, felt to be characteristic of an illiterate or semiliterate person: a letter that was full of illiteracies.
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Origin of illiteracy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for illiteracy
Contemporary Examples
They suffer sky-high maternal mortality rates, illiteracy, and a daily struggle against violence and poverty.
It is all a result of segregated communities where illiteracy is rife and the men think they can get away with anything.
Illiteracy, a problem for Egypt long before the 2011 revolution, is currently estimated at 30 percent nationwide.
Why, for example, are poverty and corruption, poor health and illiteracy, so stubbornly endemic?
It is not poverty, illiteracy, or the lack of democratic institutions.
Historical Examples
And the American drama has to be filtered through that sort of—of illiteracy?
Blue-grass and BroadwayMaria Thompson Daviess
Since that time we have reduced the illiteracy of the race at least 45 per cent.
On which part should the stigma of illiteracy set the uglier brand?
Irish Books and Irish PeopleStephen Gwynn
The degree of illiteracy is difficult to quantify, but the result is easy to notice.
The Civilization of IlliteracyMihai Nadin
The domain of alternatives constitutes the civilization of illiteracy.
The Civilization of IlliteracyMihai Nadin
Word Origin and History for illiteracy
n.
1650s, from illiterate + -cy. Earlier in this sense was illiterature (1590s).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper