Meaning & use
literacy
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
The skill of being able to read and write a language.
Grammar: A mass noun with no plural and no a: literacy is improving.
Patterns
- literacy rate
- literacy among someone
The government launched a campaign to raise literacy among adults.
Literacy in the village rose after the new school opened.
Teachers focus on early literacy in kindergarten.
noununcountable
Knowledge of, or competence in, a particular subject or kind of skill.
Grammar: Usually follows a describing word: digital literacy, financial literacy.
Patterns
- literacy in something
- computer literacy
- financial literacy
Digital literacy helps people spot false information online.
The course aims to improve financial literacy among teenagers.
Basic scientific literacy is useful for understanding health news.
Common combinations
- adult literacy
- The charity runs classes in adult literacy.
- literacy rate
- The country's literacy rate has risen above ninety percent.
- digital literacy
- Digital literacy is now taught in primary schools.
- financial literacy
- She teaches a workshop on financial literacy.
- promote literacy
- The library promotes literacy through story hours.
- media literacy
- Media literacy helps students judge whether sources are reliable.
Synonyms and how they differ
- education
- Education is a broader word for the whole process of learning, while literacy refers to the specific skill of reading and writing.
- competence
- Competence means general ability, whereas literacy is usually tied to reading, writing, or a named subject.
- fluency
- Fluency describes smooth, easy use of a language, which is a step beyond basic literacy.
- proficiency
- Proficiency stresses a high skill level, while literacy can refer only to basic ability.
Opposites
Word family
- literate adjective
- able to read and write
- illiterate adjective
- unable to read and write
- illiteracy noun
- the inability to read and write
- semiliterate adjective
- able to read and write only a little
- literally adverb
- in the actual sense of the words, from the same Latin root
Commonly confused: literacy or literature?
literacy vs literature
Literature means written works such as novels and poems, whereas literacy is the ability to read and write them.
Practice
A teacher says the school wants to improve students' ___, meaning their ability to read and write well.
Choose one answer.
Literacy is the skill of reading and writing. Literature refers to written works, which is the tempting wrong choice. Liberty and legacy have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “literacy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.