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innumerate

American

[ih-noo-mer-it, ih-nyoo-] / ɪˈnu mər ɪt, ɪˈnyu- /

adjective

unfamiliar with mathematical concepts and methods; unable to use mathematics; not numerate.

noun

an innumerate person.

innumerate British

/ ɪˈnjuːmərɪt /

adjective

having neither knowledge nor understanding of mathematics or science

"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

noun

an innumerate person

"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

Other Word Forms

innumeracy noun

Etymology

Origin of innumerate

First recorded in 1959; in- ³ + numerate

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.

Anyone claiming that spending on this scale will break the budget, or that it will seriously interfere with other priorities, is innumerate, disingenuous or both.

From Seattle Times

This one any innumerate person can understand: The injury rate in the NFL is 100 percent.

From Washington Post

Answer Man is innumerate in all major numbering systems — Roman, Arabic, hexadecimal — and not so hot in Latin, either.

From Washington Post

To some degree, I think all of us as just a species, we’re a little bit innumerate as it relates to big numbers.

From The Verge

Mr. Mishkin says that, to the contrary, he took Mr. Trump’s prospects so seriously that one of his daughters told him that he was beginning to sound like the innumerate Trump booster Bill Mitchell.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023