learned
Americanadjective
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having much knowledge; scholarly; erudite.
learned professors.
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connected or involved with the pursuit of knowledge, especially of a scholarly nature.
a learned journal.
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of or showing learning or knowledge; well-informed.
learned in the ways of the world.
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acquired by experience, study, etc..
learned behavior.
adjective
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having great knowledge or erudition
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involving or characterized by scholarship
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(prenominal) a title applied in referring to a member of the legal profession, esp to a barrister
my learned friend
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of learned
First recorded in 1300–50, learned is from the Middle English word lerned. See learn, -ed 2
Explanation
If you're learned (pronounced LUR-ned), you're highly educated, or you have or show a profound knowledge of some kind. The adjective learned comes from the verb learn. You can use it either to describe someone as having a lot of education, like the learned shopkeeper who used to tell you about the Trojan War while you picked out your candy, or to describe something that doesn't come naturally, but has to be learned (in which case it's pronounced LURND). If you reward your dog when she howls, then her howling will become a learned (LURND) behavior.
Vocabulary lists containing learned
Beowulf vocabulary
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Are You Experienced? Synonyms for "Expert"
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Words to Describe a Teacher
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Become a connector: After dropping out, Guo became a Thiel fellow and learned the power of building a network.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Skates said he still recognised the anxiety that affected him as a child and young adult, but has learned to manage it through treatment and talking therapies.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Students returning to a Kentucky middle school this year learned something surprising on their first day of class: They don’t live in Kentucky.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
He’d spent a night in a Maine hospital due to complications from a fall and then learned his mother-in-law had died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Manners are learned, and they differ greatly from culture to culture.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
