as in educated
having or displaying advanced knowledge or education
the columnist's witty and literate comments on current events make her a popular guest on political talk shows
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Recent Examples of literate
With the help of her best friend Tatum (Rose McGowan), boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich), and cine-literate nerds Randy (Jamie Kennedy) and Stu (Matthew Lillard), Sidney sets out to determine who’s behind the mask.
—
Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Mar. 2026
My grandmother, who was the only literate one in our family, would write strange musings.
—Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2026
This is a period that some people call post-literate.
—Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, 22 Feb. 2026
The study contributes to the academic field of ethnomathematics, which identifies mathematical knowledge embedded in cultural expression by prehistoric or non-literate communities.
—Jasmin Sykes, CNN Money, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for literate
Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Mar. 2026
My grandmother, who was the only literate one in our family, would write strange musings.
—Caterina De Biasio, Vogue, 23 Feb. 2026
This is a period that some people call post-literate.
—Derek Thompson, The Atlantic, 22 Feb. 2026
The study contributes to the academic field of ethnomathematics, which identifies mathematical knowledge embedded in cultural expression by prehistoric or non-literate communities.
—Jasmin Sykes, CNN Money, 16 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for literate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for literate
Adjective
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Probably those who trust institutions the most, and who can sacrifice some efficiency for an outdated but fancy stamp of approval—in other words, the children of the wealthy and educated.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
New Yorker,
5 May 2026
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The shutdown has piled new pressures on Iran’s once large and educated middle class, already struggling in the face of a prewar currency crash.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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About half of the ensembles were created within the past decade, which relays an of-the-times show versus an overly scholarly one.—
Rosemary Feitelberg,
Footwear News,
4 May 2026
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Your confidence can grow when scientists have performed a bunch of related research that’s gone through peer review, been published in scholarly journals and mostly points in the same direction.—
Jeffrey A. Lee,
The Conversation,
30 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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But the specific French dispensation—the idea that a man’s erotic life exists outside the moral world of his other obligations, that the wife and the mistress are a civilized arrangement, that desire is sovereign—this mythology did not make the crossing with me, or did not survive it intact.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 May 2026
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The 2026 draft footprint stretched across Point State Park and Acrisure Stadium (still Heinz Field in the hearts of civilized people) and by the end of the weekend, the city had hosted one of the biggest football parties in human history.—
Dan Zaksheske OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
26 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Literate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/literate. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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