Synonyms of benighted

benighted

adjective

bi-ˈnī-təd 

as in ignorant

lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ignorant
• dark
• uneducated
• untutored
• inexperienced
• untaught
• illiterate
• unschooled
• unlearned
• uninstructed
• nonliterate
• unlettered
• innocent
• simple
• unread
• rude
• naive
• foolish
• uncultured
• unsophisticated
• analphabetic
• stupid
• idiotic
• dumb
• uncultivated
• artless
• functionally illiterate
• callow
• semiliterate
• unknowledgeable
• green
• moronic
• imbecile
• unskilled
• witless
• innumerate
• untrained
• lowbrow
• silly
• philistine
• brainless
• senseless
• raw

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• literate
• brilliant
• educated
• knowledgeable
• intelligent
• experienced
• smart
• expert
• lettered
• intellectual
• well-informed
• erudite
• trained
• well-read
• learned
• schooled
• scholarly
• familiar
• cultured
• sophisticated
• aware
• cultivated
• acquainted
• highbrow
• polymath
• polyhistoric

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of benighted

With hundreds of years of patient work behind it, with some educational institutions willing to protect their scientists, and with researchers hard at work in less-benighted nations, the human desire to know and to understand will continue to produce results. —Bill McKibben, New Yorker, 3 Sep. 2025

Like the original Outlander, Blood of My Blood is believably frank about the possibility of assault in the benighted past. —Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025

Trump has talked up the idea of moving the Palestinians out of Gaza, even suggesting transforming one of the most benighted places on earth into some kind of coastal resort. —Niall Stanage, The Hill, 3 Aug. 2025

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