"It's a stupid, naïve, virtually illiterate way of thinking," Mr. Hamill says of the belief that the event would have nothing to do with politics.

Although she was two generations removed from slavery, it was hard to tell: she was black, poor and virtually illiterate.

More impressive, students of mine, many of them from virtually illiterate backgrounds, have in this manner memorized poems equally long or difficult.

As a consequence, when he left school Timothy Evans was virtually illiterate and could barely read and write his own name.

She is Britain's nightmare of the ugly American: loud, brassy, obsessed with diet and exercise, virtually illiterate and impervious to nuance.

Richard's early education was poor, being mainly in the hands of the local clergy, themselves virtually illiterate.

Because the couple were virtually illiterate, the book selection varied wildly.

Problems of New Arrivals "The majority are virtually illiterate in Vietnamese and arrive with no transferable job skills," the study found.

Others were handwritten and virtually illiterate.

He was virtually illiterate.