literate

[ lit-er-it ]

adjective

1. able to read and write.
2. having or showing knowledge of literature, writing, etc.; literary; well-read.
3. characterized by skill, lucidity, polish, or the like:

   His writing is literate but cold and clinical.

   Synonyms: knowledgeable, well-informed

4. having knowledge or skill in a specified field:

   Is she computer literate? The boss needs a computer‑literate assistant.

5. having an education; educated.

   Synonyms: knowledgeable, well-informed

noun

1. a person who can read and write.
2. a learned person.

literate

/ ˈlɪtərɪt /

adjective

1. able to read and write
2. educated; learned
3. used to words rather than numbers as a means of expression Compare numerate

noun

1. a literate person

Derived Forms

• ˈliterately, adverb

Other Words From

• liter·ate·ly adverb
• anti·liter·ate adjective noun
• anti·liter·ate·ly adverb
• un·liter·ate adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of literate¹

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin līterātus, litterātus learned, scholarly. See letter ¹, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of literate¹

C15: from Latin litterātus learned. See letter

Example Sentences

While most media-literate people can distinguish between a real news publisher and a fake one with some scrutiny, the bots that crawl through web pages or the algorithms that decide what to surface in newsfeeds don’t take those steps.

From Digiday

Of course, writing systems are thousands of years old, found in ancient Sumer, China, and Egypt, but in most literate societies only a small fraction of people ever learned to read, rarely more than 10 percent.

From Nautilus

It’s very important that children be literate by third grade.

From Voice of San Diego

One study of climate change sceptics, for example, found that the most scientifically literate people in the group were most likely to strongly endorse climate scepticism.

From No Straight News

The intention is to make the public and policymakers WUI literate and provide science and tools that could lead to the creation of cost-effective solutions, so we don’t keep repeating the same tragic, expensive mistakes.

From ProPublica

I am not the most financially literate person (I would be hard-pressed to articulate the term “junk bond”).

From The Daily Beast

Pointing out that Nick Denton writes and speaks like a literate adult and not like a 14-year-old in remedial English.

From The Daily Beast

The trick for directors is to make it as surprising and shocking for such a gore-literate audience.

From The Daily Beast

The Keep America Safe website was at least a globally literate and coherent representation of international security issues.

From The Daily Beast

Penguin India wet itself, and entered into an agreement with this semi-literate goon.

From The Daily Beast

Flaubert is in six volumes, four or five of which every literate man must at one time or another assault.

From Project Gutenberg

Lincoln, they knew, favored the extension of suffrage only to literate Negroes and to those who had served in the military forces.

From Project Gutenberg

The opinion was advanced that the evening of the day he landed his arrival was known in every literate home in New York.

From Project Gutenberg

I doubt if there is a single literate person in the world to-day who would apply the word “wicked” to Shelley.

From Project Gutenberg

There they competed on alternate forums with literate gardeners and stuttering horticultural amateurs.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cultured
• educated
• knowledgeable