Definition of "semiliterate" [semiliterate]

• Having achieved an elementary level of ability in reading and writing. (adjective)
• Having limited knowledge or understanding, especially of a technical subject. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In an interview with the Guardian last year, he described them as a bunch of greedy, uncultured, semiliterate oiks."
• "It should be accessible to the child, to the woman, to the man, to the old person, to the semiliterate, to the presidents of universities, to everyone."
• "Just because one can forgive the infrequent use of such a construction by children or the semiliterate does make it “correct.”"