(of a person 人 not knowing how to read or write 不会读写的；不识字的；文盲的 A large percentage of the rural population was illiterate. 农村人口中，文盲占很大的比例。
Extra ExamplesBeing illiterate, my grandfather signed the document with an ‘X’. 由于不识字，我祖父在文件上签了一个“X”。 In a mainly illiterate society, traditions were passed down orally. 在一个以文盲为主的社会，传统是口头流传下来的。 Ordinary members of the clergy were largely illiterate. 普通神职人员大多是文盲。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- completely
- totally
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(of a document or letter 文件或信函 badly written, as if by somebody without much education 行文拙劣的；不通顺的 Many of the application forms we received were virtually illiterate. 我们收到的很多申请表简直不知所云。 That morning I received a somewhat illiterate letter from my client. 那天早上，我收到了一封来自我客户的有点不识字的信。
(usually after a noun or adverb 通常在名词或副词之后 not knowing very much about a particular subject area （对某学科）了解不多的，外行的 computer illiterate 计算机盲 musically illiterate 音乐盲 The population was politically illiterate and easily manipulated. 人口是政治文盲，容易被操纵。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- completely
- totally
- almost
- …
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin illitteratus, from in- ‘not’ + litteratus, from littera ‘letter of the alphabet’, (plural) ‘epistle, literature, culture’.