unenlightened

adjective

un·​en·​light·​ened ˌən-in-ˈlī-tᵊnd 

-en-

: having or showing a lack of necessary knowledge or understanding : not enlightened

… his disregard for society's margins seems particularly unenlightened.

—Genevieve Stuttaford

… an audience of unenlightened laymen.

—Joyce Carol Oates

Examples of unenlightened in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The trouble for Gen Z—and for the businesses catering to them—is that turning back the clock to the year 2000 can also mean turning back the clock to what appear to be some distinctly unenlightened slang, if not outdated beliefs. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2025

Instead of following his gut like some unenlightened pleb, Patrick trusts his spleen and his spleen alone. —Laura Bradley, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025

Its opposite—illiberal—means stingy, narrow-minded, intolerant, provincial, unenlightened, and using government to insure the flourishing of only the few. —Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025

While the initial print run was limited to only 900 copies, a small but vocal subset of readers became a regular sight at comic shops and fan conventions, waving their wrinkled and heavily underlined softcovers at a mostly disinterested and unenlightened public. —Hazlitt, 18 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1650, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for unenlightened

• brightened
• frightened
• heightened
• lightened
• tightened
• enlightened