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View synonyms for literate

literate

[ lit-er-it ]

adjective

  1. able to read and write.
  2. having or showing knowledge of literature, writing, etc.; literary; well-read.
  3. characterized by skill, lucidity, polish, or the like:

    His writing is literate but cold and clinical.

    Synonyms: knowledgeable, well-informed

  4. having knowledge or skill in a specified field:

    Is she computer literate? The boss needs a computer‑literate assistant.

  5. having an education; educated.

    Synonyms: knowledgeable, well-informed



noun

  1. a person who can read and write.
  2. a learned person.

literate

/ ˈlɪtərɪt /

adjective

  1. able to read and write
  2. educated; learned
  3. used to words rather than numbers as a means of expression Compare numerate


noun

  1. a literate person

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Derived Forms

  • ˈliterately, adverb

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Other Words From

  • liter·ate·ly adverb
  • anti·liter·ate adjective noun
  • anti·liter·ate·ly adverb
  • un·liter·ate adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of literate1

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin līterātus, litterātus learned, scholarly. See letter 1, -ate 1

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Word History and Origins

Origin of literate1

C15: from Latin litterātus learned. See letter

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Example Sentences

I am not the most financially literate person (I would be hard-pressed to articulate the term “junk bond”).

Pointing out that Nick Denton writes and speaks like a literate adult and not like a 14-year-old in remedial English.

The trick for directors is to make it as surprising and shocking for such a gore-literate audience.

The Keep America Safe website was at least a globally literate and coherent representation of international security issues.

Penguin India wet itself, and entered into an agreement with this semi-literate goon.

Flaubert is in six volumes, four or five of which every literate man must at one time or another assault.

Lincoln, they knew, favored the extension of suffrage only to literate Negroes and to those who had served in the military forces.

The opinion was advanced that the evening of the day he landed his arrival was known in every literate home in New York.

I doubt if there is a single literate person in the world to-day who would apply the word “wicked” to Shelley.

There they competed on alternate forums with literate gardeners and stuttering horticultural amateurs.

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