illiterate

American  

[ih-lit-er-it] / ɪˈlɪt ər ɪt /

adjective

1. unable to read and write.

   an illiterate group.

2. having or demonstrating very little or no education.

3. showing lack of culture, especially in language and literature.

4. displaying a marked lack of knowledge in a particular field.

   He is musically illiterate.

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noun

• illiterates
  plural

1. an illiterate person.

illiterate British  

/ ɪˈlɪtərɪt /

adjective

1. unable to read and write

2. violating accepted standards in reading and writing

   an illiterate scrawl

3. uneducated, ignorant, or uncultured

   scientifically illiterate

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noun

1. an illiterate person

Synonym Usage

See ignorant.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• illiteracy
  noun
• illiterateness
  noun
• semi-illiterateness
  noun
• semi-illiterate
  adjective
• illiterately
  adverb
• semi-illiterately
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• illiterates
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of illiterate

First recorded in 1550–60, illiterate is from the Latin word illiterātus unlettered. See il- ², literate

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Explanation

You can describe a person unable to read or write as illiterate. Karaoke, which involves singing out the words to songs as they scroll across a big screen, requires the ability to read. If you’re illiterate, you won’t be able to participate. Illiterate, from the Latin illiteratus “unlearned, ignorant,” can describe someone unable to read or write, but it can also imply that a person lacks cultural awareness. However, Walt Whitman saw a unique beauty to illiteracy: “There is that indescribable freshness and unconsciousness about an illiterate person that humbles and mocks the power of the noblest expressive genius.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

illiterate illiterates

Bonilla’s interest in being on the other side of the camera solidified after playing an illiterate South Central high school student in the Byron Allen sitcom “Mr. Box Office.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

He has commonly been described as illiterate, but O'Keeffe uncovered a draft of the memoir among Napier's papers that was written in Byfield's own hand.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026

That guidance suggests that teenage girls in particular are illiterate about their own bodies, and as a result make poor health decisions.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

It painted a dire picture of a nation where one-in-two children under five years has stunted growth, and nearly three-quarters of 10 year-olds leave school illiterate.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

However, while Pizarro himself happened to be illiterate, he belonged to a literate tradition.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

The unintended consequences of do-goodism by cultural illiterates.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2018

“In history, our leaders were poets and scholars, but when Russia invaded, warlords and illiterates emerged in power,” said Qudratullah Zaki, 45, an ethnic Uzbek legislator and an ally of Ghani.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2016

Thus, contract laborers were excluded in 1885, immoral persons and anarchists in 1903, and illiterates in 1917.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2016

Female illiteracy levels in India are high; indeed it is estimated that there are more female illiterates in India than in the rest of the world combined.

From Forbes ● Feb. 23, 2015

Of the 5,500,000 illiterates as reported by the census of 1910, nearly 3,225,000 were whites, and more than 1,500,000 were native-born whites.

From Conservation Through Engineering Extract from the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior by Franklin K. Lane

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Related Words

• ignorant
• uneducated

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