To save this word, you'll need to log in.
lit·er·ate | \ ˈli-tə-rət also ˈli-trət 
\
\Definition of literate
(Entry 1 of 2)
b : able to read and write
What percentage of the population is literate?
2a : versed in literature or creative writing : literary literate novelists
c : having knowledge or competence (see competent sense 2)
computer-literate politically literate
literate
nounDefinition of literate (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : an educated person
2 : a person who can read and write
Keep scrolling for more
Synonyms & Antonyms for literate
Synonyms: Adjective
Antonyms: Adjective
Visit the Thesaurus for More
Examples of literate in a Sentence
Adjective
She is literate in both English and Spanish.
What percentage of the population is literate?
The job requires you to be computer literate.
See More
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective To film industry peers and moviegoers who paid attention to the credits, the wife-and-husband team of Harriet Frank and Ravetch, who died in 2010, stood out among Hollywood’s most successful and literate script writers.
—
Robert D. Mcfadden, BostonGlobe.com, "Harriet Frank Jr., a screenwriter for ‘Hud’ and ‘Norma Rae’," 30 Jan. 2020 To film industry peers and moviegoers who paid attention to the credits, the wife-and-husband team of Ms. Frank and Mr. Ravetch, who died in 2010, stood out among Hollywood’s most successful and literate script writers.
—
Robert D. Mcfadden, New York Times, "Harriet Frank Jr., Writer of Challenging Screenplays, Dies at 96," 28 Jan. 2020 Those of us with semi-computer literate grandparents are familiar with this explanation.
—
Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, "All of the questions Forky has asked on Forky Asks a Question," 10 Jan. 2020 As the percentage of literate females spiked in France, the publishing industry pounced on this potential market.
—
Samantha Presnal, Quartzy, "Thanksgiving leftovers can be an outlet for creativity," 29 Nov. 2019 Mirroring his boss in that regard, O’Brien is in the classic mold of serious, experienced, historically literate national security specialists.
—
Hugh Hewitt, Twin Cities, "Hugh Hewitt: Trump chose exactly the national security adviser he and the country need," 20 Sep. 2019 Champion credentials: Crowder distributes books and organizes tutoring in Hough, where an estimated 95% of residents are illiterate or barely literate.
—
cleveland, "Rhonda Crowder and Hough Reads battle widespread illiteracy: Cleveland Champions," 29 Nov. 2019 In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Montgomery described a highly literate, chatty, adaptive boy who continually overachieved.
—
Thomas Beaumont, chicagotribune.com, "The hopes and fears of Pete Buttigieg’s mom: From reading ‘ugly mail’ to helping tell her son’s story," 29 Sep. 2019 This is a smart, literate, intellectual city that has an ethos of wanting to care for your neighbors.
—
Molly Guthrey, Twin Cities, "Friends of the St. Paul Public Library, envy of librarians everywhere, kicks off 75-year celebration," 7 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The program makes sure to emphasize that students leave the program bilingual, bi-literate, and with a strong sense of biculturalism, which Herod believes is key to a student’s total immersion in the program.
—
Ryan Nickerson, Houston Chronicle, "Herod Elementary celebrates 25 years of dual language," 14 Feb. 2020 Kalder’s point is the disquieting one that the worst tyrants of the past century were hardly the brutal less-than-literates of our imagination.
—
Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, "The Field Guide to Tyranny," 16 Dec. 2019 In the Washington Heights study, 35 percent of the illiterate group (82 of 238) had dementia when the study began, as against 18 percent (137 of 743) of literate participants.
—
Gary Stix, Scientific American, "Literacy Might Shield the Brain from Dementia," 13 Nov. 2019 For each app in the competition, XPRIZE tested a group of low-literate, or functionally illiterate, adults at the start and end of a 1-year period of that group using the app.
—
Jordan Wilkerson, Dallas News, "SMU gaming app aims to teach millions of U.S. adults who can't read," 1 Aug. 2019 This being the Washington area — full of literate, globe-trotting, policy types — the Current Affairs, Travel and Military History categories are popular.
—
John Kelly, Washington Post, "This McLean used book sale turns 50 this year. It features very D.C. titles.," 11 Sep. 2019 Nothing like signifyin’ in the Henry Louis Gates Jr. sense, with its necessarily intelligent playfulness, but something essentially post-literate and cheerless.
—
Kevin D. Williamson, National Review, "A Herd Has No Mind," 11 July 2019 The sad proof: Seventy percent of blind Americans are unemployed — but of those who do work, 85% are Braille-literate, according to the NFB.
—
Peg Rosen, Good Housekeeping, "Blindness Can't Stop Me from Living the Life I Want to Live," 14 Sep. 2018 Lin said this is a good thing because not everyone with pending immigration cases is computer literate.
—
Kate Morrissey, sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego immigration court to pilot electronic filing system," 9 July 2018
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'literate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Keep scrolling for more
More Definitions for literate
literate
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of literate
: able to read and write
: having or showing knowledge about a particular subject
See the full definition for literate in the English Language Learners Dictionary
literate
adjectivelit·er·ate | \ ˈli-tə-rət \
\Kids Definition of literate
1 : able to read and write
2 : having gotten a good education
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on literate
What made you want to look up literate? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
More Confusing Words—Quiz
- The magician
______moved the selected card to the top of the deck.
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
- More Confusing Words—Quiz
How many of these commonly confused words do you know?
Take the quiz - Name that Thing: Toys and Games Edition
It's all fun and games until someone beats your high score.
Take the quiz - Spell It
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz - Dictionary Devil
The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?
Play the game
Share literate
Time Traveler for literate
The first known use of literate was in the 15th century
See more words from the same century