lettered
Americanadjective
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educated or learned.
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of, relating to, or characterized by learning or literary culture.
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marked with or as if with letters.
adjective
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well educated in literature, the arts, etc
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literate
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of or characterized by learning or culture
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printed or marked with letters
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of lettered
Middle English word dating back to 1275–1325; see origin at letter 1, -ed 3
Explanation
Describing a friend as lettered is a compliment — you're remarking on her educational success and knowledge. People are especially lettered when they've read a lot of books. Though you'd never want to describe yourself as lettered — you'd sound like a show off — it's a great way to describe a scholarly friend. Lettered people are well-educated and well-read, and are often academics, either teaching or researching their areas of interest. The origin of lettered is littera, "letter of the alphabet" or "document," and its plural form, litteræ, which means "literature or books."
Vocabulary lists containing lettered
Latin Love, Vol III: littera
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Words to Describe a Teacher
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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.
Team will be randomly chosen — or drawn — from each pot and assigned to one of the World Cup groups, lettered A through L in alphabetical order.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025
Sitting in front of the Wales Millennium Centre's famous lettered windows, Mr Farrow said the cost of "just opening the doors and running this facility" has gone up by £1m per year since 2019.
From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2023
He lettered from 1963-65 on Kentucky’s varsity under Charlie Bradshaw after playing on the freshman squad and was a consensus first team All-America as a senior.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 30, 2023
He lettered three years as a punter and kicker in high school, and came to WSU as a preferred walk-on.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
Taped to the bottom was a hand lettered notice that said that the circus would be in town for two nights only, on the grounds of the elementary school.
From "Homecoming" by Cynthia Voigt
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
