UNENLIGHTENED Synonyms: 43 Similar and Opposite Words

unenlightened

adjective

Definition of unenlightened

as in benighted

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of unenlightened Instead of transitioning these communities into new industries or providing them with the tools to adapt, our legislators have chosen to obscure coal and its workers, treating them as relics of a bygone, unenlightened and even primitive era. — Daniel A.c. McBride, Baltimore Sun, 1 June 2025 Dirty work is often assumed to be unenlightened work, but wildland firefighters have a unique empirical understanding of natural forces. — M. R. O’Connor, The New Yorker, 27 Jan. 2025 Some are downright funky in their retro prejudices, others more quaintly unenlightened. — Lauren Bravo, refinery29.com, 3 Jan. 2024 Wilson, therefore, was not introducing the ideas of world order and human rights to a collection of previously anarchic states and unenlightened polities. — Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, 8 Dec. 2020 See All Example Sentences for unenlightened

Recent Examples of Synonyms for unenlightened

Adjective

But this time there would be no panel from the National Endowment of the Arts sifting through the applications, no oversight from cultural officials and benighted curators—the usual process.

— Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 8 May 2026
Repeal the benighted Jones Act, which raises energy and shipping costs.

— Editorial, Boston Herald, 30 Mar. 2026

Definition of benighted

Adjective

To Tommy, Anna and Molly are twittering encumbrances, idiotic in their insistence on good works and the good of man, their endless remorseful hedgings about the Communist Party.

— Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
Butlers are kicked in the shins and told their children are ugly; a patriarch’s idiotic military decisions are venerated for their spirit; blood spilling out of a servant’s wound is more an issue for the rug.

— Diana Arterian, Literary Hub, 16 July 2026

Definition of idiotic

Adjective

The contest is not between an intelligent country and an unintelligent one.

— John Sviokla, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
More and more people are avoiding dating or befriending those with opposing political views, and growing numbers describe those on the other side as closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent.

— Justin Callais, Twin Cities, 5 Mar. 2026

Definition of unintelligent

Adjective

The report says there's been progress, but minorities, along with people who are poor and uneducated, still face higher death rates.

— Stephanie Stahl, CBS News, 24 June 2026
The hillbilly is portrayed as ignorant, uneducated, and unsophisticated; they are often depicted as being unkempt in appearance, perhaps noticeably dirty or walking around barefoot.

— Jordana Rosenfeld, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 June 2026

Definition of uneducated

Adjective

Howard Bryant's comparison this week between Cunningham's comments and Colin Kaepernick's protests was both ignorant and desperate.

— Bobby Burack OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Aug. 2026
Only those stubbornly ignorant to the human cost of actual combat would be psyched to bring on more of it.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of ignorant

Adjective

And before the perpetually whiny and moronic peanut gallery says that sports teams have special nights all the time, that’s true, but celebrating heritage, or veterans who fought and died for this country is just an eency weency bit different than force-feeding the gay agenda at a ball game!

— Tomi Lahren OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026
Garrincha was characterised as childish and moronic in psychological tests commissioned by the Brazilian federation before that tournament in Sweden and was then left out of their first two games.

— Jack Lang, New York Times, 28 May 2026

Definition of moronic

Adjective

Perhaps in writing it, Salinger was trying to negotiate whether his remarkable survival through some of the war’s worst gauntlets could be chalked up to dumb luck, or divine intervention.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Aug. 2026
Approaching the plant, there are no telltale dumb-bell silhouettes on the horizon signaling its presence.

— Ramy Inocencio, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of dumb

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unendurable

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“Unenlightened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unenlightened. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of unenlightened

adjective

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