innumeracy

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/ɪˈnjuːmə.ɹə.si//ɪˈnuːmə.ɹə.si/

noun

Lack of numeracy; low numeracy.

“The man suffered from innumeracy stemming from a brain injury, and depended on his wife for all financial matters, no matter how trivial.”

Opposite
numeracy
Scrabble 17
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Meanings

nouninnumeracy (countable and uncountable, plural innumeracies)

plural innumeracies

  1. countableuncountableLack of numeracy; low numeracy.

    The man suffered from innumeracy stemming from a brain injury, and depended on his wife for all financial matters, no matter how trivial.

    1 more example

    John Allen Paulos and others have asked our society to consider numeracy and innumeracy in a way closer to how we view literacy and illiteracy.

    Antonyms: numeracy

Synonyms & antonyms

nounLack of numeracy; low numeracy.

Opposite
numeracy

Origin

From in- + numeracy; coined by Douglas Hofstadter and popularized by mathematician John Allen Paulos in his 1989 book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

innumeracy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/innumeracy

MLA

“innumeracy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/innumeracy. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “innumeracy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/innumeracy.

Source: innumeracy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.