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illiterate

[ih-lit-er-it] / ɪˈlɪt ər ɪt /


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.

In her second term, she introduced a constitutional amendment to reserve 45 seats in the legislature for female MPs, and worked to educate young women - in a country where 70% of them were illiterate.

From BBC • Dec. 29, 2025

“Without laborers,” she writes, “who were often illiterate and almost never speak for themselves in historical texts—there would have been no Mughal Empire.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 5, 2025

Only the math illiterate would continue to present this as a mandate.

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2025

When Pedro Almodóvar was a young boy, his mother would read and translate letters for their illiterate neighbors.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 16, 2024

However, while Pizarro himself happened to be illiterate, he belonged to a literate tradition.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond




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