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Glite Dictionary
🚫 Unable to read 🚫 A non-reader 🔤 No alphabet used
analphabetic

analphabetic

9.9
Unable to read or write
  • adjective
  • /ˌænəlfəˈbɛtɪk/
translation icon : analfabeto
  • Many analphabetic individuals struggle to find employment due to their inability to read or write.

Examples

  • The charity focuses on helping analphabetic people learn to read and write.

  • In some regions, analphabetic adults face significant barriers in accessing basic services.

  • No analphabetic, unpunctuated, or ignorant student is likely to bud spontaneously into an eloquent and incisive Rousseau.

    Academic text (1996)

Synonyms

illiterate
vsanalphabetic
29 3.7

Not able to read or write

means the same but adds notion of no knowledge of the alphabet
unlettered
vsanalphabetic
1 8.9

People who cannot read or write

focuses on inability alone without implying lack of wider education

How Literate

educated
36 3.2
literate
11 2.5
semiliterate
1 7.6
analphabetic
9.9

Surface Forms

analphabetic positive

Morphology

analphabetic = alphabetic (transparent) = an + alphabet + ic

The adjective is formed by negating 'alphabetic' with 'an-', giving the straightforward meaning 'not alphabetic' or 'unable to use the alphabet'.

Etymology

Analphabetic comes from the Greek parts an- meaning 'not' and alphabet, which is named from the first two letters alpha and beta and means 'letters'. So, analphabetic describes someone who does not know the letters and cannot read or write.