Meanings
comparative more illiterate · superlative most illiterate · alternative obsolete illitterate
- Unable to read and write.
About half of the population in Ethiopia is illiterate.
2 more examples
If publique Aſſemblies of Divines cannot agree upon a right vvay, private Conventicles of illeterate men, vvill ſoon finde a vvrong. Bivious demurres breed devious reſolutions. Paſſengers to heaven are in haſte, and vvill vvalk one vvay or other.
1647, Theodore de la Guard [pseudonym; Nathaniel Ward], The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. […], London: […] J[ohn] D[ever] & R[obert] I[bbitson] for Stephen Bowtell, […], →OCLC, page 37Not always does this ruse succeed however. The railways have undertaken publicity warning passengers about it, and have made a big difference in the appearance of long distance and short distance tickets, so that the most illiterate person can see the distinction. Some of these swindlers have been caught.
1953 November, 'Erca', “Ticket Frauds in the East”, in Railway Magazine, page 780 - Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or having little formal education.
He's illiterate […] Seriously, how did he get into RI?
2021 September 15, Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore Parliament debates on 15 September 20211 more example
Ignorant and ſuperſtitious wretches meaſure the actions of letterd and philoſophical men by the tattle of their nurſes or illiterate parents and companions, or by the faſhion of the country : and people of differing religions judge and condemn each other by their own tenents ; when both of them cannot be in the right, and it is well if either of them are.
1722, William Wollaston, “Sect. V. Truths relating to the Deity. Of his exiſtence, perfection, providence, &c.”, in The Religion of Nature Delineated, page 81 - Not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing.
Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.
1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray et al., editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 128 - Ignorant in a specified way or about a specified subject.
technologically illiterate, economically illiterate, emotionally illiterate
plural illiterates · alternative obsolete illitterate
- An illiterate person, one either not able to read and write or not knowing how.
We might also provide education plus reading and writing services to adult illiterates.
1993, Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower, HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP (2019), page 210 - A person ignorant about a given subject. (The relevant subject is usually named as a noun adjunct.)
Their government is run by business illiterates.
1 more example
Sometimes a mathematical illiterate is called an innumerate.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivenot able to read or write
adjectiveuneducated in the fundamentals of a given art or branch of learning; lacking knowledge of a specific field
adjectivelacking culture, especially in language and literature
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinillīterātus
- Middle Englishilliterat(e)“uneducated, ignorant of Latin”
- Englishilliterate
First attested in 1425–1475, in Middle English; from Middle English illiterat(e) (“uneducated, ignorant of Latin”), borrowed from Latin illīterātus, illitterātus (“unlearned, ignorant”), itself from in- (“un-”) + līterātus, litterātus (“furnished with letters”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from lītera, littera (“letter, character”). The noun was derived from the adjective by substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀγράμματος
- ἀγράμματος (agrámmatos)unable to read and write
Arabic أُمِّيّ
- أُمِّيّ (ʔummiyy)unable to read and write
Bulgarian негра́мотен, необразо́ван
- негра́мотен (negrámoten)unable to read and write
- необразо́ван (neobrazóvan)unable to read and write
- необразо́ван (neobrazóvan)having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- неграмотен (negramoten)an illiterate person
Catalan illetrat, analfabet
- illetratunable to read and write
- analfabetunable to read and write
- analfabetan illiterate person
Chinese Cantonese 文盲
- 文盲 (man⁴ maang⁴)an illiterate person
Chinese Mandarin 文盲, 文盲
- 文盲 (wénmáng)unable to read and write
- 文盲 (wénmáng)an illiterate person
Czech negramotný, nevzdělaný
- negramotnýunable to read and write
- nevzdělanýunable to read and write
Danish analfabetisk, analfabet
- analfabetiskunable to read and write
- analfabetan illiterate person
Dutch ongeletterd, analfabeet
- ongeletterdunable to read and write
- analfabeetunable to read and write
- ongeletterdean illiterate person
- analfabeetan illiterate person
Esperanto analfabeta, analfabeto
- analfabetaunable to read and write
- analfabetoan illiterate person
- analfabetuloan illiterate person
Estonian kirjaoskamatu, kirjaoskamatu
- kirjaoskamatuunable to read and write
- kirjaoskamatuan illiterate person
Finnish lukutaidoton, sivistymätön
- lukutaidotonunable to read and write
- sivistymätönhaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- kouluja käymätönhaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- lukutaidotonan illiterate person
French illettré, illettrée
- illettréunable to read and write
- illettréeunable to read and write
- analphabèteunable to read and write
- analphabètehaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- illettréan illiterate person
- illettréean illiterate person
- analphabètean illiterate person
German analphabetisch, ungebildet
- analphabetischunable to read and write
- ungebildethaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- ungelehrthaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- ungebildetnot conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing
- ungelehrtnot conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing
- Analphabetan illiterate person
- Analphabetinan illiterate person
Greek αγράμματος, αναλφάβητος
- αγράμματος (agrámmatos)unable to read and write
- αναλφάβητος (analfávitos)having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- αναλφάβητος (analfávitos)not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing
- αναλφάβητος (analfávitos)an illiterate person
Hebrew אַנְאַלְפָבֵּית, אֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ צוּרַת א׳
- אַנְאַלְפָבֵּית (analfabét)unable to read and write
- אֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ צוּרַת א׳ (einó yodéa' tzurát álef)unable to read and write
Hindi अशिक्षित, अनपढ़
- अशिक्षित (aśikṣit)unable to read and write
- अनपढ़ (anpaṛh)unable to read and write
- निरक्षर (nirakṣar)unable to read and write
Hungarian analfabéta, írástudatlan
- analfabétaunable to read and write
- írástudatlanunable to read and write
- írni-olvasni nem tudóunable to read and write
- műveletlenhaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- tanulatlanhaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- analfabétaan illiterate person
Indonesian buta huruf, tunaaksara
- buta hurufunable to read and write
- tunaaksaraunable to read and write
- niraksaraunable to read and write
Irish neamhliteartha, ainléannta
- neamhlitearthaunable to read and write
- ainléanntahaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
Italian analfabeta, illetterato
- analfabetaunable to read and write
- illetteratohaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- analfabetaan illiterate person
Japanese 文盲の, 読み書きができない
- 文盲の (monmou no)unable to read and write
- 読み書きができない (yomikaki ga dekinai)unable to read and write
- 無学の (mugaku no)having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- 文盲 (monmō)an illiterate person
- 非識字者 (hishikijisha)an illiterate person
Korean 글을 모르다, 문맹의
- 글을 모르다 (geureul moreuda)unable to read and write
- 문맹의 (munmaeng'ui)unable to read and write
- 문맹 (munmaeng)an illiterate person
Malay tunaaksara, buta huruf
- tunaaksaraunable to read and write
- buta hurufunable to read and write
Māori kū(w)are-ā-tuhi
- kū(w)are-ā-tuhiunable to read and write
Norwegian Bokmål analfabet
- analfabetan illiterate person
Persian بیسواد, بیسواد
- بیسواد (bi-savâd)unable to read and write
- بیسواد (bi-savâd)an illiterate person
Polish niepiśmienny, niegramotny
- niepiśmiennyunable to read and write
- niegramotnyunable to read and write
- analfabetahaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- analfabetkahaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- analfabetaan illiterate person
- analfabetkaan illiterate person
Portuguese analfabeto, iletrado
- analfabetounable to read and write
- iletradounable to read and write
- iletradohaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- analfabetoan illiterate person
- analfabetaan illiterate person
Romanian analfabet, analfabet
- analfabetunable to read and write
- analfabetan illiterate person
- analfabetăan illiterate person
Russian негра́мотный, необразо́ванный
- негра́мотный (negrámotnyj)unable to read and write
- необразо́ванный (neobrazóvannyj)unable to read and write
- безгра́мотный (bezgrámotnyj)having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- необразо́ванный (neobrazóvannyj)having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- неве́жественный (nevéžestvennyj)having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- безгра́мотный (bezgrámotnyj)not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing
- неве́жественный (nevéžestvennyj)not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing
- негра́мотный (negrámotnyj)an illiterate person
Slovak negramotný, nevzdelaný
- negramotnýunable to read and write
- nevzdelanýunable to read and write
Spanish analfabeto, iletrado
- analfabetounable to read and write
- iletradounable to read and write
- ágrafounable to read and write
- analfabetoan illiterate person
- analfabetaan illiterate person
- iletradoan illiterate person
- iletradaan illiterate person
Swedish icke läskunnig, analfabetisk
- icke läskunnigunable to read and write
- analfabetiskunable to read and write
- obildadhaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- illitterathaving less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature
- analfabetan illiterate person
Tagalog dinulat, maang
- dinulatunable to read and write
- maangunable to read and write
Ukrainian негра́мотний, неписьме́нний
- негра́мотний (nehrámotnyj)unable to read and write
- неписьме́нний (nepysʹménnyj)unable to read and write
- неосві́чений (neosvíčenyj)unable to read and write
- неодуко́ваний (neodukóvanyj)unable to read and write
Vietnamese dốt nát, mù chữ
- dốt nátunable to read and write
- mù chữunable to read and write
- thất họcunable to read and write
Cite this entry
illiterate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illiterate
“illiterate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illiterate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “illiterate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/illiterate.
Source: illiterate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.