unlettered

[ uhn-let-erd ]

/ ʌnˈlɛt ərd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR unlettered ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

not educated; uneducated; untutored; ignorant.

not literate; illiterate.

not marked with letters, as a tombstone.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of unlettered

Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at un-¹, lettered

SYNONYMS FOR unlettered

1. See ignorant.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR unlettered ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for unlettered

In the novel, Newton takes up with a frumpy, unlettered Kentucky woman well into middle age.
‘The Man Who Fell to Earth’ Is a Classic Twice over—as a Movie and a Novel|Malcolm Jones|February 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They were not designed via the epiphany of an unlettered Russian sergeant at a workbench, as fables would have it.
The Story of Saddam's Gun Collection|C.J. Chivers|October 28, 2010|DAILY BEAST
St. Francis was unlettered, but his mind was poetic and imaginative, his nature gentle and humble.
Tuscan Sculpture of the Fifteenth Century|Estelle M. Hurll
And mark you, this is no rude gathering of unlettered squires and rough men-at-arms.
Cynthia's Chauffeur|Louis Tracy

The "afflictive birch, cursed by unlettered idle youth," has other uses than that which the quotation would seem likely to imply.
Poachers and Poaching|John Watson
But it is unfortunately adduced to illustrate a position to which it can never apply, the vindication of an unlettered clergy.
Coelebs In Search of a Wife|Hannah More
It was first announced, not to the great or wise, but to the poor and unlettered.
Religious Studies, Sketches and Poems|Harriet Beecher Stowe

British Dictionary definitions for unlettered

unlettered

/ (ʌnˈlɛtəd) /

adjective

uneducated; illiterate

not marked with lettersan unlettered tombstone

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

Word Origin and History for unlettered

unlettered

adj.

mid-14c., "not possessed of book-learning," from un- (1) "not" + lettered (see letter (n.)). An anglicized form of illiterate. Cf. Middle Dutch ongelettert.