illiterate

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.

Because many colonists were illiterate, the Declaration was commonly declaimed by local officials in town squares and preachers in pulpits.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

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

They want illiterate, groveling serfs, who live in fear and don’t stick around too long.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025

"Digital technology is an opportunity we cannot miss," she said, warning that "those who do not adapt risk becoming the illiterate of the 21st century".

From Barron's • Oct. 9, 2025

How he had copied the group of letters out on a piece of brown paper; copied, as illiterate people do, every curlicue, arch, and bend in the letters, and presented it to the midwife.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison