as in ignorance
the state of being unlearned
far too many children are doomed to a lifetime of illiteracy in that country
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Recent Examples of illiteracy
Election Code also states that a witness, or someone who signs an application for a voter who is unable to sign it due to a physical disability or illiteracy, is limited to helping one voter in the same election or one voter in a calendar year who applies for annual ballots.
—
Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Apr. 2025
The free event for National Financial Literacy Month is sponsored by the nonprofit Society for Financial Awareness, which aims to end financial illiteracy across the country.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Apr. 2025
Functional illiteracy rates, for example, have not changed much since 1979 and remain as high as 20% by some measures.
—Veronique De Rugy, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2025
By the time the Supreme Court reopened those schools in 1964, the county’s 3% illiteracy rate for Black residents ages 5 to 22 had risen to 22%.
—Essence, 22 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illiteracy
Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Apr. 2025
The free event for National Financial Literacy Month is sponsored by the nonprofit Society for Financial Awareness, which aims to end financial illiteracy across the country.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 11 Apr. 2025
Functional illiteracy rates, for example, have not changed much since 1979 and remain as high as 20% by some measures.
—Veronique De Rugy, Boston Herald, 26 Mar. 2025
By the time the Supreme Court reopened those schools in 1964, the county’s 3% illiteracy rate for Black residents ages 5 to 22 had risen to 22%.
—Essence, 22 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for illiteracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for illiteracy
ignorance
Noun
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Trump’s disdain for classic neoliberal U.S. soft power — and for the values and institutions that uphold it — is likely to hurt American interests in just the same way his tariff regime and utter ignorance of real-world trade theory do.—
Patrick Brzeski,
HollywoodReporter,
7 May 2025
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The pathos here thus depends largely on the reader’s total ignorance of Vietnamese.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Illiteracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/illiteracy. Accessed 19 May. 2025.
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