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

"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

A high number of pupils at the secondary school are "functionally illiterate", meaning they have a reading age well below average when they start Year 7.

From BBC • May 21, 2025

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

From Salon • Feb. 10, 2025

Although more and more people were learning how to read, the artisans still had signs above their shops, not wishing to lose a possible patron merely because he happened to be illiterate.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes