analphabet

Syllables: an·al·pha·bet/əˈnælfəbɛt/

analphabet noun: a person who does not know the letters of the alphabet; a partly or wholly illiterate person.

Noun

analphabet (plural analphabets)

A person who does not know the letters of the alphabet; a partly or wholly illiterate person.
- In 1861, out of a total population of 21,777,331, there were no less than 16,999,701 "analphabetes," or persons absolutely unable to read.1896, J[ohn] M[orrison] Reid, J. T. Gracey, “Part XI. Mission to Italy.”, in Missions and the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church […] In Three Volumes, volume III, New York, N.Y....
- The governor of a distant province receives a telegram from the Ministry asking how many analphabets (illiterates) there are in his area. Neither he nor his colleagues know what an analphabet is, but as anarchism also begins with 'an' they guess that an analphabet must be a dangerous enemy of the...1960, Opera, volume 11, London: Rolls House Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 281
Synonyms:

illiterate

Adjective

analphabet (comparative more analphabet, superlative most analphabet)

Ignorant of the letters of the alphabet; partly or wholly illiterate.
- […] Vincentius Pinelli’s Books, which after his death, being ſhipped by his Heirs for Naples, and taken by the Turks, were many of them thrown overboard by thoſe Analphabet Rogues, who looked for other merchandiſe than Books. Yet many of them were recovered again for Money, […]1686, Richard Lassels, “The Description and Voyage of Italy”, in The Voyage of Italy: Or, A Compleat Journey through Italy. In Two Parts. […], London: Printed for R. C. J. R. and A. C. and are to be...
- And of the Mohammedan population nearly all the women are analphabet.1908, John P[rice] Jones, “Islam in India”, in India: Its Life and Thought, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, section III (What is the Character of the Mohammedan Population in India?)...
Synonyms:

illiterate

analphabet meaning in Tamil

analphabet in Tamil

எழுத்தறிவு அற்றவர், நெடுங்கணக்கை அறியாத, எழுத்தறிவு அற்ற

Examples of analphabet in a sentence

The governor of a distant province receives a telegram from the Ministry asking how many analphabets (illiterates) there are in his area.1960, Opera, volume 11, London: Rolls House Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 281:
The Beckettian progression appears occasionally: while Miss Counihan (static) is an omnivorous reader and Murphy (transitional) a strict non-reader, Cooper is an analphabete.1968, Robert [Ligon] Harrison, Samuel Beckett’s Murphy: A Critical Excursion (University of Georgia Monographs; no. 15), Athens, Ga....
As to [Paulo] Freire's methods, we should keep in mind that they were primarily developed to teach adult analphabets their own language, as a part of a 'conscientization' process.1985, Jacob L[ouis] Mey, “Language Manipulation”, in Whose Language?: A Study in Linguistic Pragmatics, Amsterdam; Philadelphia, Pa.: John...
The porter was an analphabete, but together / we found your name, down among the Os, / and there you were, my brave love, / in a loose hospital gown that covered nothing; […]1986, Michael Hofmann, “From A to B and Back Again”, in Frank Ormsby, Robert Johnstone, editors, The Honest Ulsterman, number 82, Belfast...

Synonyms of analphabet

illiterate

Forms of analphabet

Noun
plural	analphabets
alternative form	analphabete
Adjective
comparative	more analphabet
superlative	most analphabet

Origin of analphabet

From Late Latin analphabetus (“unable to read and write; illiterate”), from Ancient Greek ἀναλφάβητος (analphábētos, “illiterate”), from ἀν- (an-, “un-”) + ἀλφάβητος (alphábētos, “alphabet”); analysable as an- + alphabet. The English word was probably influenced by cognate words in other languages such as French analphabète (adjective), German Analphabetus, Analphabet (nouns), analphabeten (adjective), Italian analfabeta (adjective, noun), analfabeto (adjective, noun), Portuguese analfabeto (adjective, noun), Spanish analfabeto (adjective, noun). The adjective was derived from the noun.

Words formed from analphabet

Questions about analphabet

What does analphabet mean?: Analphabet means a person who does not know the letters of the alphabet; a partly or wholly illiterate person.
What is analphabet in Tamil?: Analphabet in Tamil is எழுத்தறிவு அற்றவர், நெடுங்கணக்கை அறியாத, எழுத்தறிவு அற்ற. See Analphabet meaning in Tamil.
How do you use analphabet in a sentence?: The governor of a distant province receives a telegram from the Ministry asking how many analphabets (illiterates) there are in his area.
What part of speech is analphabet?: Analphabet can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce analphabet?: Analphabet is pronounced /əˈnælfəbɛt/.
What is the plural of analphabet?: The plural of analphabet is analphabets.

Words near analphabet in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: analphabet (page history and authors); analphabet (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-analphabet.wav.

Cite this entry: “analphabet.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/analphabet. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.