benighted

adjective

be·​night·​ed bi-ˈnī-təd 

bē-

1

: overtaken by darkness or night

Benighted travellers … have seen his midnight candle glimmering.

—W. B. Yeats

2

: existing in a state of intellectual, moral, or social darkness : unenlightened

spreading their message among these poor benighted people

a strange, benighted country

benightedly adverb

benightedness noun

Synonyms

• ignorant

Examples of benighted in a Sentence

the poor benighted souls who do not know the joys of reading

Recent Examples on the Web

Antony and Cleopatra’s benighted love story plays out against the surge of Roman power, and Caesar, sung with biting clarity by Paul Appleby, comes off as a modern Duce. —Justin Davidson, Vulture, 13 May 2025

In that benighted era, smart and beautiful women like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Judy Holliday were perennially cast in jiggle roles: empty headed, screen-filling eye candy. —Guy Trebay, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2025

That said, the inclusion of out-of-home impressions to the national TV sample in autumn 2020 and the subsequent expansion of Nielsen’s OOH measurement have helped the NCAA’s media partners claw back a good deal of deliveries that would have been otherwise ignored in a more benighted era. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 25 Mar. 2025

And, of course, speedily deport those who misbehave. — George W. Price, Chicago Our benighted states The only renaming of place that is called for in this age of Donald Trump is the United States of America. —Chicago Tribune, 3 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for benighted

• affrighted
• alighted
• delighted
• excited
• farsighted
• highlighted
• ignited
• incited
• indicted
• invited
• nearsighted
• recited

Kids Definition

benighted

adjective

be·​night·​ed bi-ˈnīt-əd 

: ignorant sense 1, 2