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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Any suggestion that this is some kind of victory for Combs is ignorant.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
27 Aug. 2025
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In this case, the problem is ethics in the medical profession, as young doctor Andrew Manson (Robert Donat) moves from idealism to disillusionment and back again when faced with ignorant patients who are skeptical of his conclusions, economic hardship, and crooked colleagues.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
25 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Benighted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benighted. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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