illitterate

Adjective

illiterate (comparative more illiterate, superlative most illiterate)

1. Unable to read and write.
   • About half of the population in Ethiopia is illiterate.
2. Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or having little formal education.
   • Ignorant and ſuperſtitious wretches meaſure the actions of letterd and philoſophical men by the tattle of their nurſes or illiterate parents and companions, or by the faſhion of the country : and people of differing religions judge and condemn each other by their own tenents ; when both of them...1722, William Wollaston, “Sect. V. Truths relating to the Deity. Of his exiſtence, perfection, providence, &c.”, in The Religion of Nature Delineated, page 81
3. Not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing.
   • Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray et al., editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 128
4. Ignorant in a specified way or about a specified subject.
   • technologically illiterate, economically illiterate, emotionally illiterate

See all 6 meanings of illiterate