literacy test

noun

1. an examination to determine whether a person meets the literacy requirements for voting, serving in the armed forces, etc.; a test of one's ability to read and write.

Word History and Origins

Origin of literacy test¹

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Hamer persisted and passed her literacy test on the third attempt.

From Washington Post

If that was true you couldn’t strike down a literacy test, or a law that was racially discriminatory.

From Washington Post

It would seem that the literacy test has been applied to ghosts in recent fiction.

From Project Gutenberg

But for this, she would have grown up too ignorant to pass the very simplest literacy test.

From Project Gutenberg

That the literacy test be not applied to the wives of immigrants.

From Project Gutenberg

Many scientific endeavors of our time would not have started if potential success were to be put to a literacy test.

From Project Gutenberg

The literacy test was inserted by the House but was rejected by the Senate.

From Project Gutenberg