nonliterate
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
- nonliteracy noun
Etymology
Origin of nonliterate
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.
The Iliad and Odyssey were composed and transmitted by nonliterate bards for nonliterate listeners, and not committed to writing until the development of the Greek alphabet hundreds of years later.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Why did New Guineans continue to use stone tools instead of developing metal tools, remain nonliterate, and fail to organize themselves into chiefdoms and states?
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
More quickly: The child who learns to read about his nonliterate ancestors necessarily separates himself from their way of life.
From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez
He was less interested in prehistory and in simpler, nonliterate societies.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions 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.
