innumerate

American  

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

adjective

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

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noun

1. an innumerate person.

innumerate British  

/ ɪˈnjuːmərɪt /

adjective

1. having neither knowledge nor understanding of mathematics or science

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noun

1. an innumerate person

Other Word Forms

• innumeracy noun

Etymology

Origin of innumerate

First recorded in 1959; in- ³ + numerate

Example Sentences

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 • Nov. 1, 2021

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 • Sep. 27, 2020

They are innumerate, meaning they’re unskilled with numbers.

From Washington Post • Sep. 27, 2019

I understood how unlikely it was that this would happen again, but I have become emotionally innumerate about pregnancy.

From Slate • Feb. 7, 2019

Furthermore, since perceptions tend to become realities, the natural tendency of the mass media to accentuate the anomalous, combined with an innumerate society’s taste for such extremes, could conceivably have quite dire consequences.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos