literate

1 of 2

adjective

lit·​er·​ate ˈli-tə-rət 

 also  ˈli-trət

1

a

: educated, cultured

literate executives

b

: able to read and write

What percentage of the population is literate?

2

a

: versed in literature or creative writing : literary

literate novelists

b

: lucid, polished

a literate essay

c

: having knowledge or competence (see competent sense 2)

computer-literate

politically literate

literately adverb

literateness noun

literate

2 of 2

noun

1

: an educated person

2

: a person who can read and write

Synonyms

Adjective

• educated
• erudite
• knowledgeable
• learned
• lettered
• scholarly
• well-read

Examples of literate in a Sentence

Adjective

She is literate in both English and Spanish.

What percentage of the population is literate?

The job requires you to be computer literate.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Available on The Week Bookshop Middlemarch George Eliot, 1871 Lydia, my wonderful and vastly more literate wife, convinced me to read this after years of gentle persuasion. —The Week Uk, theweek, 27 Sep. 2024

Jeff Wheeler, a photographer at the Star Tribune, said Doman challenged the stereotype that photographers aren’t very literate through his love of books, and his Scrabble skills. —Natasha Delion, Twin Cities, 9 Nov. 2024

Noun

Senior managers need to lead the effort to become climate literate and to then enable all of their employees, especially aspiring and rising managers, to do the same. —Lynn Schenk alison Smart, Harvard Business Review, 4 Oct. 2024

Being data literate is not the same as being a data storyteller. —Expert Panel®, Forbes, 23 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Adjective and Noun

Middle English literat, from Latin litteratus marked with letters, literate, from litterae letters, literature, from plural of littera

First Known Use

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

circa 1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

literate

1 of 2 adjective

lit·​er·​ate ˈlit-ə-rət 

ˈli-trət

1

: educated sense 1, cultured

2

: able to read and write

3

: having knowledge or experience in a particular area

computer literate

literately adverb

literateness noun

literate

2 of 2 noun

1

: an educated person

2

: a person who can read and write