as in idiot
a stupid person
often disparaged her coworkers as a bunch of know-nothings
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Recent Examples of know-nothing
That said, what’s more insufferable—a skeptical know-it-all or a proud know-nothing?
—
Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
How about the Hollywood know-nothings Susan Sarandon or Mark Ruffalo, who have so much to say about the suffering of Hamas terrorists but not a peep for people being brutalized and murdered by actual terrorists?
—Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 8 Jan. 2026
What kind of bizarro-world finds Dr. Anthony Fauci labeled a know-nothing criminal and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 6 Jan. 2026
Then there are those who rage against their children’s accomplishments, clinging to the hierarchy agreed upon when the child was a helpless know-nothing.
—Madeline Leung Coleman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
Lewis’s superficial attack abets the know-nothing Trump Administration, which spurns cooperative allies and rational arrangements.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The secret is that Spike’s know-nothing naivete encourages us to see the world through the eyes of someone who’s new to every part of it.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 June 2025
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
Even as Republicans embrace him as an iconoclast, Democrats and other critics have lambasted Kennedy as a know-nothing without the scientific or bureaucratic experience to do the job effectively.
—Dylan Scott, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026
How about the Hollywood know-nothings Susan Sarandon or Mark Ruffalo, who have so much to say about the suffering of Hamas terrorists but not a peep for people being brutalized and murdered by actual terrorists?
—Bobby Zirkin, Baltimore Sun, 8 Jan. 2026
What kind of bizarro-world finds Dr. Anthony Fauci labeled a know-nothing criminal and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 6 Jan. 2026
Then there are those who rage against their children’s accomplishments, clinging to the hierarchy agreed upon when the child was a helpless know-nothing.
—Madeline Leung Coleman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
Lewis’s superficial attack abets the know-nothing Trump Administration, which spurns cooperative allies and rational arrangements.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The secret is that Spike’s know-nothing naivete encourages us to see the world through the eyes of someone who’s new to every part of it.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 June 2025
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
Even as Republicans embrace him as an iconoclast, Democrats and other critics have lambasted Kennedy as a know-nothing without the scientific or bureaucratic experience to do the job effectively.
—Dylan Scott, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for know-nothing
Noun
-
Lluís then calls Puig Antich a moron.—
Colm Tóibín,
The Atlantic,
14 Mar. 2026
-
This drunk moron — quite different from his character in the novel — bears a ton of blame.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
The scale of the headloss was best summed up by Luis Suarez attempting to reason with Messi, before the Argentine did anything on the Suarez scale of stupid.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
-
But the new parking fees at Balboa Park are a whole new level of stupid.—
Inga,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Know-nothing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/know-nothing. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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