as in ignorant
lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books
the poor benighted souls who do not know the joys of reading
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Recent Examples of benighted
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
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
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
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
See All Example Sentences for benighted
Justin Davidson, Vulture, 13 May 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
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
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
See All Example Sentences for benighted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for benighted
ignorant
Adjective
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The league might be skeptical that the Clippers were merely ignorant of the Aspiration-Leonard relationship and question why the team didn’t undertake more diligence.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
10 Sep. 2025
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Conversations that would’ve otherwise been fun and intellectually stimulating will start to feel childish and ignorant.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
8 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Benighted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benighted. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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