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illiteracy

[ih-lit-er-uh-see]

noun, plural -cies for 3.

a lack of ability to read and write.

the state of being illiterate; lack of any or enough education.

a mistake in writing or speaking, felt to be characteristic of an illiterate or semiliterate person: a letter that was full of illiteracies.

Origin:
1650–60; illiter(ate) + -acy

Related forms

sem·i-il·lit·er·a·cy, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To illiteracy

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Illiteracy has a plethora of syllables.

So is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. Does it mean:

an obscure term ostensibly referring to a lung disease caused by silica dust, sometimes cited as one of the longest words in the English language.

opposition to the withdrawal of state support or recognition from an established church, esp. the Anglican Church in 19th-century England.

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Example Sentences

The message is that there is no moral stigma attached to illiteracy.

There is indeed an example of mathematical illiteracy here--to be found not in the daily chart but among the comments.

Rates of illiteracy and infant mortality have fallen dramatically, and the economy is booming.

EXPAND

The message is that there is no moral stigma attached to illiteracy.

There is indeed an example of mathematical illiteracy here--to be found not in the daily chart but among the comments.

Rates of illiteracy and infant mortality have fallen dramatically, and the economy is booming.

Almost all the comments about scientists and science show profound scientific illiteracy.

Our world is shaped by widespread statistical illiteracy.

Religious illiteracy cuts across generations, and the devout scarcely know more than the secular do.

Illiteracy may not be as much of a problem as job skills.

She characterized the changes as a true cultural revolution that gives major focus to the fight against illiteracy.

Don't blame science for the irresponsibility and scientific illiteracy of main-stream media.

Haiti has a high illiteracy rate, which allegedly can include government officials.

Life expectancy is falling, illiteracy rising, crime rife.

We're also dealing with a lot of prejudice, religious programming and scientific illiteracy.

One of the reasons that labor cost is so cheap today is because of the high rate of illiteracy and the high demand for employment.

Malnutrition, infant mortality and illiteracy are rampant.

Yes, this economic illiteracy really did take place in a deregulated market.

Television presents a potent challenge to newspapers in a region plagued by illiteracy.

It has the smallest share of women in parliament and the workforce, and the highest rate of female illiteracy.

Ire over public services often focuses on bad hospitals: death is more heart-wrenching than illiteracy.

And of course, illiteracy is higher in the supposedly dumber countries.

Pratham's response to widespread illiteracy and innumeracy was to experiment.

It would be better, some argue, to concentrate on eradicating illiteracy and providing basic educational programmes.

But critics say it is silly to push for computerisation when rural electricity is scarce and erratic, and illiteracy is high.

Statistics suggest dalit poverty, infant mortality and illiteracy are much worse than the average.

He wants to end science illiteracy among the nation's.

Studies have found that extreme age claims are correlated to regions with high illiteracy rates.

Yet it is not, as some might suppose, yet further evidence of the burgeoning illiteracy of the internet age.

Families in many cases must forego sending their girls to school, perpetuating the grinding cycle of illiteracy and poverty.

He also began studies and programs to fight illiteracy and a rising.

The best place to begin to fight cultural illiteracy is in our schools.

Its hoped-for credibility relies entirely on scientific illiteracy and manufactured hysteria.

America is facing a crisis of escalating illiteracy.

India tolerated dissent, but it also tolerated inefficiency, disease and illiteracy.

Poverty and illiteracy make a lethal combination that seeks escape in entertainment that does not tax the brain or the purse.

They wanted to live at our expense and that is either illiteracy or cruelty.

Sure, consumer hubris and illiteracy plays a role, but someone handed the blowtorch to the children.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

illiterate (ɪˈlɪtərɪt)

—*adj*
1.	unable to read and write
2.	violating accepted standards in reading and writing: an illiterate scrawl
3.	uneducated, ignorant, or uncultured: scientifically illiterate

—n
4.	an illiterate person

il'literacy

—n

il'literateness

—n

il'literately

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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"In our time, the curse is monetary illiteracy, just as inability to read plain print was the curse of earlier centuries."

-Ezra Pound

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