semiliterate

Definition of semiliteratenext

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for semiliterate
Adjective
  • His paternal grandparents were peasants in Transylvania; his maternal grandparents were also peasants, and his grandmother was illiterate.
    Rebecca Mead, New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Naïve little girls growing up illiterate in a conflict zone.
    Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • At the age of 10, Elizabeth would see first hand what would happen when her mother, an uneducated woman with six children, would have to support herself on her own.
    Marcy Thompson, Scientific American, 16 Apr. 2026
  • Words with letters dropped off the end or entire phrases strung together to form new words were seen as improper speech of the uneducated and poor.
    Moriah Humiston, NBC news, 3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • The popularity of e-bikes and e-motos has soared since the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving lawmakers and law enforcement scrambling to regulate the bikes that are often used by young riders ignorant or disdainful of the rules of the road.
    Sean Emery, Oc Register, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Trump is either too ignorant or mentally challenged — and dangerous — to continue as president.
    Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 17 Apr. 2026
Adjective
  • By comparison, Danceny is practically a boy, unschooled in the art of manipulation, and Reeves provides the character with the appropriate youthful naïveté.
    Tim Grierson, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2025
  • Whether these findings map onto kids who are unschooled in the context of worldschooling remains to be seen without systematic longitudinal studies; anecdotal evidence from the parents in my research suggests mixed results.
    Jennie Germann Molz, Scientific American, 21 Oct. 2024
Adjective
  • No untutored voice, nor even sound of rushing car disturbed the seemingly sacred stillness of the hour.
    Erin Alberty, Axios, 14 Apr. 2025
  • His savage, untutored mind suggested no better way than that of wreaking vengeance upon those who had wronged him.
    Liz Tracey, JSTOR Daily, 21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
  • Such a practice would have been especially useful in nonliterate societies where knowledge was transmitted orally.
    Amanda Fortini, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2020
Adjective
  • Repeal the benighted Jones Act, which raises energy and shipping costs.
    Editorial, Boston Herald, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Repeal the benighted Jones Act, which raises energy and shipping costs.
    Bloomberg Opinion, Twin Cities, 29 Mar. 2026
Adjective
  • The unlettered Prince has gained in life what Hamlet achieved only in death: his own story shaped on his own terms, thanks to the intervention of a skillful Horatio.
    Rebecca Mead, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023
  • The characters include a temperamental goat, a sweet-natured monk, an unlettered orphan boy and an intelligent young girl whose destiny is to dethrone a king.
    Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 10 Dec. 2021
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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Cite this Entry

“Semiliterate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/semiliterate. Accessed 28 Apr. 2026.

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