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Glite Dictionary
agraphic

agraphic

9.9
Unable to write because of brain damage or illness
  • adjective
  • /ˌeɪɡrəˈfɪk/
  • Specialized
: agraphico
  • After her stroke, she struggled with agraphic symptoms that made it hard for her to express her thoughts in writing.

Examples

  • The patient was diagnosed as agraphic following his stroke.

  • She became agraphic following her traumatic brain injury.

  • Her sudden agraphic state made communication with her family difficult.

  • Researchers studied the agraphic symptoms that developed after the accident.

  • The patient was diagnosed as agraphic after the stroke.

  • The doctor explained that his agraphic condition was caused by the brain injury he sustained in the accident.

  • The therapist recommended exercises to help improve her agraphic skills after her traumatic brain injury.

Antonyms

literate
1 2.7

A person who can read and write

How Able to Write

agraphic
  • Specialized
9.9
illiterate
39 3.7

Surface Forms

agraphic positive

Morphology

agraphic = graphic (opaque) = a + graph + ic

The form is recognizably built on graphic with the privative prefix a-, but the medical meaning 'unable to write' depends on a specialized Greek root rather than the modern adjective.

Etymology

The word agraphic comes from the Greek parts a- meaning 'not' and graph meaning 'write', the same root you see in autograph and paragraph. So agraphic means 'without the ability to write', which is why doctors use it for people who cannot write after a brain injury.