as in illiterate
violating approved patterns of speaking and writing
the résumé and its ungrammatical cover letter were summarily thrown in the trash
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Recent Examples of ungrammatical
The notes were vintage O’Keeffe—brief, vivid, enlightening, and, yes, often ungrammatical, but brilliantly so.
—
Calvin Tomkins, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025
But if language exemplifies the human capacity for internalizing grammatical conventions, then my moment of rule-breaking does not in fact expose some ungrammatical first nature.
—Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
And in general, the A.I. bots were useful for sharpening prose and cleaning up clunky, ungrammatical sentences.
—Brian X. Chen, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2023
That could be useful for conversations where telegraphic, ungrammatical messages would come off as impolite.
—Tom Simonite, Wired, 18 Oct. 2020
But to many Americans, the pronouns are ungrammatical and confusing.
—Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2019
None of that here in the pretentious, inauthentic speech of an ungrammatical kid.
—Toby Zinman, Philly.com, 11 June 2018
Yes, its ungrammatical slogan does not exactly roll off the tongue.
—Mark Lisanti, Vanities, 11 May 2018
Calvin Tomkins, New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2025
But if language exemplifies the human capacity for internalizing grammatical conventions, then my moment of rule-breaking does not in fact expose some ungrammatical first nature.
—Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2025
And in general, the A.I. bots were useful for sharpening prose and cleaning up clunky, ungrammatical sentences.
—Brian X. Chen, New York Times, 1 Feb. 2023
That could be useful for conversations where telegraphic, ungrammatical messages would come off as impolite.
—Tom Simonite, Wired, 18 Oct. 2020
But to many Americans, the pronouns are ungrammatical and confusing.
—Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 16 Aug. 2019
None of that here in the pretentious, inauthentic speech of an ungrammatical kid.
—Toby Zinman, Philly.com, 11 June 2018
Yes, its ungrammatical slogan does not exactly roll off the tongue.
—Mark Lisanti, Vanities, 11 May 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ungrammatical
illiterate
Adjective
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Over the past few years, the tech world has become increasingly hostile to traditional media outlets, dismissing them as technologically illiterate or openly antagonistic toward the industry.—
Diego Lasarte,
New Yorker,
25 Feb. 2026
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Roughly 21% of American adults are illiterate and 54% read below a 6th grade level, according to the National Literacy Institute's 2024-2025 study.—
Clare Mulroy,
USA Today,
25 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ungrammatical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ungrammatical. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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