the fact of being unable to read or write The illiteracy rate on the island is still unacceptably high. 岛上的文盲率仍然很高，令人无法接受。 movements to eradicate illiteracy 消除文盲运动
- (usually after a noun or an adjective)
the fact of knowing very little about a particular subject area （对某学科）了解不多的，外行的 economic/scientific illiteracy 经济/科学文盲