dyslexia

American  

[dis-lek-see-uh] / dɪsˈlɛk si ə /

noun

1. any of various reading disorders associated with difficulty decoding written language and integrating auditory and visual information, such as the association of phonemes with letter combinations in spelling.

---

dyslexia British  

/ dɪsˈlɛksɪə, dɪsˈlɛktɪk /

noun

1. Nontechnical name: word blindness.  a developmental disorder which can cause learning difficulty in one or more of the areas of reading, writing, and numeracy

---

dyslexia Scientific  

/ dĭs-lĕk′sē-ə /

1. A learning disability marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.

---

dyslexia Cultural  

1. Difficulty in reading when experienced by persons with normal vision and normal or above-normal intelligence. A common example of dyslexia is reading words with the letters in reverse order, as in fyl for fly.

---

Usage

Rather than talking about a person being dyslexic or about dyslexics , it is better to talk about a person with dyslexia , people with dyslexia

Other Word Forms

• dyslectic adjective
• dyslexic adjective

Etymology

Origin of dyslexia

First recorded in 1885–90; from New Latin, from Greek dys- dys- + léx(is) “speech, text, word” ( see lexis) + -ia -ia

Explanation

Dyslexia is a reading disorder. People who have dyslexia have trouble matching the sounds in words with the letters and letter combinations that make those sounds. Dyslexia is from the Greek roots dys, "difficult," and lexis, "word." Although dyslexia literally means "difficulty with words," someone who has dyslexia may also have trouble in other areas like math, telling time, or even telling left and right. However, there's no lack of intelligence associated with dyslexia: famous dyslexics include Thomas Edison, John Lennon, and Whoopi Goldberg.

Example Sentences

In an interview, Coleman said he got a great education in Maine’s public schools, including help overcoming his dyslexia, and is happy to contribute more.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

Ridings, who has dyslexia, says her mum often helps her write down and edit her "stream of consciousness" lyrics.

From BBC • Mar. 28, 2026

Despite affecting a such a wide portion of the population, the condition is widely misunderstood, according to dyslexia researcher Dr. Helen Taylor of the University of Cambridge.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

According to Taylor, there is a link between dyslexia and “enhanced abilities” in areas such as discovery, invention and creativity.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

From there we can crank the microscope one more turn to the level of genes, which is an opportunity to review studies of dyslexia and other inherited language disorders.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker