Literate Meaning
/ˈlɪtəɹət/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjAble to read and write; having literacy.
adjKnowledgeable in literature, writing; literary; well-read.
Sentence Examples
An illiterate man was fair game for the literate exploiters who contributed to his domination.
I think Tom is literate.
Yanni was barely literate and spoke little Berber.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the medieval village, very few people were ____ enough to read the king's decree.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the past, only a small percentage of the population was ____ and knew how to read and write today.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English litterate, borrowed from Latin lītterātus, līterātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix). Doublet of literato and literatus. Displaced native Old English stæfwīs.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate."
— 1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 86:
"Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday (September 8, 2025) declared Himachal as a “fully literate State” on the occasion of International Literary Day. […] Journey from 7% to 99.30%: The Chief Minister said Himachal Pradesh had reached this goal well before the scheduled timeframe, adding that the journey from minimal literacy rate of around 7% to full literacy had been full of challenges, yet the State had consistently moved forward with the aim of providing quality education. […] Mr. Sukhu said the literacy rate in Himachal Pradesh had reached 99.30%, which is higher than the national benchmark of 95% […] Union Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar, in a video message, congratulated Himachal Pradesh on this achievement and emphasised the importance of providing skill-based education to the newly literate."
— 2025 September 8, “Himachal Pradesh becomes ‘fully literate State’. CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu says the literacy rate in Himachal reached 99.30%, which is higher than the national benchmark of 95% with the hill State ranking first in student-teacher ratio”, in The Hindu:
"The reason literature plays a unique role in any literate culture is its longevity."
— 2008 January 7, Charles Hugh Smith, Can a Fragmented Culture Find Common Ground?:
"The Mongol emperor Kublai Khan even commissioned an alphabetic script for his empire, to be used officially for all its literate languages, Mongolian, Chinese, Turkic and Persian."
— 2005, Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, Harper:
"I don’t have a college degree. I was never a standout student. And yet, I became financially literate—not just in my personal life, but in running a small company."
— 2026 April 22, Jillian Sanders, “The Danger of Surrendering Your Financial Independence in a Relationship”, in TIME, archived from the original on 22 Apr 2026:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
In the medieval village, very few people were ____ enough to read the king's decree.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
In the past, only a small percentage of the population was ____ and knew how to read and write today.