ignorant

ig·no·rant

adjective \ˈig-n(ə-)rənt\

Definition of IGNORANT

1

a : destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified <parents ignorant of modern mathematics>

b : resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence <ignorant errors>

2

: unaware, uninformed

— ig·no·rant·ly adverb

— ig·no·rant·ness noun

Examples of IGNORANT

1. He is an ignorant old racist.
2. She was ignorant about the dangers of the drug.
3. It was an ignorant mistake.
4. … the World Series of the wild-card era is the pull of a slot-machine lever, a game of chance ignorant of form. Regularly populated now with second-place clubs or flavor-of-the-month teams more than dominant regular-season franchises … —Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated, 30 Oct. 2006
5. That may be especially true for today's … 13-year-olds, whose own moms and dads grew up largely ignorant of car seats, bike helmets, antibacterial soaps and childproof locks … —Nancy Gibbs, Time, 8 Aug. 2005
6. The joke is that the film was not his work. To refer to a producer's oeuvre is, at least to me, as ignorant as to refer to the oeuvre of a stockbroker. —David Mamet, Jafsie and John Henry: Essays, 1999

Origin of IGNORANT

(see ignore)

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to IGNORANT

Synonyms

analphabetic, benighted, dark, illiterate, nonliterate, rude, simple, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unlettered, unread, unschooled, untaught, untutored

Antonyms

educated, knowledgeable, lettered, literate, schooled, well-informed, well-read

Related Words

functionally illiterate, innumerate, semiliterate, unknowledgeable; artless, lowbrow, philistine, uncultivated, uncultured; callow, green, inexperienced, innocent, naive (or naïve); unsophisticated; raw, unskilled, untrained; brainless, dumb, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), moronic, stupid, witless; foolish, senseless, silly

Near Antonyms

brilliant, intelligent, smart; experienced, expert, trained; erudite, learned, polyhistoric, polymath (or polymathic), scholarly; cultivated, cultured, highbrow, intellectual; sophisticated; acquainted, aware, familiar

Synonym Discussion of IGNORANT

ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, untutored, unlearned mean not having knowledge. ignorant may imply a general condition or it may apply to lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing <an ignorant fool> <ignorant of nuclear physics>. illiterate applies to either an absolute or a relative inability to read and write <much of the population is still illiterate>. unlettered implies ignorance of the knowledge gained by reading <an allusion meaningless to the unlettered>. untutored may imply lack of schooling in the arts and ways of civilization <strange monuments built by an untutored people>. unlearned suggests ignorance of advanced subjects <poetry not for academics but for the unlearned masses>.