functional illiteracy

noun

as in illiteracy

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for functional illiteracy
  1. illiteracy
  2. ignorance
  3. dumbness
  4. idiocy
Noun
  • There’s no danger of spontaneous mass illiteracy, but the complex cognitive skills that reading fosters start to degrade.
    — Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • And now creative events like the various fair demonstrations and exhibits bring the problem of illiteracy into public spaces and help remove the stigma surrounding it.
    — Catharine Kaufman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026
Definition of illiteracy
Noun
  • The pro-Trump media’s attitude, though, borders on willful ignorance.
    — Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Schiebinger uses agnotology, a methodological approach that examines how ignorance is produced and maintained, to analyze the making of this scientific ignorance.
    — Kari Traylor, JSTOR Daily, 29 July 2026
Definition of ignorance
Noun
  • The first 10 minutes are an incredible swirl of paranoia, alcoholism, and sluggish dumbness when Gould just needs to feed his cat.
    — Eric Farwell, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026
  • Unlike its sibling concepts of dumbness and idiocy, stupidity isn’t really a personality trait.
    — Jonny Thomson, Big Think, 11 Feb. 2026
Definition of dumbness
Noun
  • No one wants the distraction of bizarre and disturbing behavior, of internet idiocy or civil lawsuits.
    — Mirjam Swanson, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026
  • And when Torres scored, Fernandez's idiocy only came into greater focus.
    — Jack Lang, New York Times, 19 July 2026
Definition of idiocy
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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functional
functional illiteracy
functionally illiterate
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Cite this Entry

“Functional illiteracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/functional%20illiteracy. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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