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semiliterate

[ sem-ee-lit-er-it, sem-ahy- ]

adjective

  1. barely able to read and write.
  2. capable of reading but not writing.
  3. literate but poorly skilled or informed; lacking the proficiency of a literate person.


noun

  1. a person who is semiliterate.

semiliterate

/ ˌsɛmɪˈlɪtərɪt /

adjective

  1. hardly able to read or write
  2. able to read but not to write
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • sem·i·lit·er·a·cy [sem-ee-, lit, -er-, uh, -see, sem-ahy-], noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of semiliterate1

First recorded in 1925–30; semi- + literate
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Example Sentences

Coast Guard in international waters every year, most of them poor, semiliterate fishermen from Central and South America driven to smuggling with offers of more money than they’ve ever seen — in Dávila-Reyes’ case $6,000.

"But sometimes we want to make laws even clearer so that even semiliterate psychopaths have a chance at understanding them."

From Salon

Undereducated, semiliterate and Black, he was routinely and easily dismissed in his youth.

In appearances on the show beginning in 2006, Carlson variously referred to Iraqis as “semiliterate primitive monkeys” and described “a culture where people just don’t use toilet paper or forks.”

What's more, a number of letters were upside down or reversed, hinting that the writer was only semiliterate.

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semiliquidSémillon