What does illiteracy mean?

Definitions for illiteracy
ɪˈlɪt ər ə siil·lit·er·a·cy

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word illiteracy.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. illiteracynoun

    ignorance resulting from not reading

  2. illiteracy, analphabetismnoun

    an inability to read

Wiktionary

  1. illiteracynoun

    The inability to read.

    Illiteracy is widespread in certain areas of the country.

  2. illiteracynoun

    The portion of a population unable to read, generally given as a percentage.

  3. illiteracynoun

    A word, phrase or grammatical turn thought to be characteristic of an illiterate person.

Wikipedia

  1. illiteracy

    Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, humans in literate societies have sets of practices for producing and consuming writing, and they also have beliefs about these practices. Reading, in this view, is always reading something for some purpose; writing is always writing something for someone for some particular ends. Beliefs about reading and writing and its value for society and for the individual always influence the ways literacy is taught, learned, and practiced over the lifespan. Some researchers suggest that the history of interest in the concept of "literacy" can be divided into two periods. Firstly is the period before 1950, when literacy was understood solely as alphabetical literacy (word and letter recognition). Secondly is the period after 1950, when literacy slowly began to be considered as a wider concept and process, including the social and cultural aspects of reading and writing, and functional literacy.

ChatGPT

  1. illiteracy

    Illiteracy is the inability to read or write, or the lack of proficiency in these skills. It can also refer to a lack of knowledge or understanding about a particular subject or topic.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Illiteracynoun

    the state of being illiterate, or uneducated; want of learning, or knowledge; ignorance; specifically, inability to read and write; as, the illiteracy shown by the last census

  2. Illiteracynoun

    an instance of ignorance; a literary blunder

  3. Etymology: [From Illiterate.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of illiteracy in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of illiteracy in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of illiteracy in a Sentence

  1. Jeb Bush:

    Our problems are still so big in illiteracy that it doesn't matter what your last name is.

  2. Bishnupada Sethi:

    Odisha has seen calamities like cyclones and floods 77 times over the last 100 years. The fishing community, particularly those living on the coast, bear the burnt and are always the worst affected, their miseries multiply due to poor shelter, illiteracy, poverty and, above all, a lack of access to information.

  3. John Saul:

    Ideology is a form of illiteracy. Those addicted to it are unable to understand anything other than what fits their pattern.

  4. John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society (1958):

    People are the common denominator of progress. So... no improvement is possible with unimproved people, and advance is certain when people are liberated and educated. It would be wrong to dismiss the importance of roads, railroads, power plants, mills, and the other familiar furniture of economic development.... But we are coming to realize... that there is a certain sterility in economic monuments that stand alone in a sea of illiteracy. Conquest of illiteracy comes first.

  5. Bishnupada Sethi:

    Odisha has seen calamities like cyclones and floods 77 times over the last 100 years. The fishing community, particularly those living on the coast, bear the burned and are always the worst affected, their miseries multiply due to poor shelter, illiteracy, poverty and, above all, a lack of access to information.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

illiteracy#10000#38902#100000

Translations for illiteracy

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"illiteracy." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/illiteracy>.

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