subliterateadj.
/sʌbˈlɪt(ə)rət/, U.S. /ˌsəbˈlɪdərət/ Having a low level of literacy; barely literate. Cf. illiterate adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > want of learning, illiteracy > [adjective] > almost
subliterate1912
1912 Ann. Rep. Superintendent of State Prisons 79 English-speaking inmates not being admitted to the school unless classed as illiterate, that is sub-literate or wholly illiterate.
1958 J. Berry in E. Sivertsen Proc. 8th Internat. Congr. Linguists 759 In subliterate societies (in most of Tropical Africa for example) where book-production is at the best financially hazardous.
1989 A. Wilentz Rainy Season (1990) ii. 60 An odious item to have around, with its subliterate entries and obsession with guns.
2006 V. Vinge Rainbow's End xiv. 150 By twentieth-century standards he was subliterate.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1912