benighted

American  

[bih-nahy-tid] / bɪˈnaɪ tɪd /

adjective

1. intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened.

   benighted ages of barbarism and superstition.

   Synonyms:

   uncultivated, crude, primitive, backward

2. overtaken by darkness or night.

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benighted British  

/ bɪˈnaɪtɪd /

adjective

1. lacking cultural, moral, or intellectual enlightenment; ignorant

2. archaic overtaken by night

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Other Word Forms

• benightedly adverb
• benightedness noun

Etymology

Origin of benighted

First recorded in 1565–75; be- + night + -ed ²

Explanation

Being called benighted is much like being called naive. It means lacking in knowledge or understanding—the kind you might have if you were older or more sophisticated. Although it sounds a lot like "being knighted", benighted has nothing to do with knights and, in fact, includes the word "night" (as in the opposite of day) and not "knight" (as in "of the Round Table"). One way to remember what benighted means is to think of a person "being nighted" or, put into the dark. A benighted person is in the dark about things: they don't know because they can't see. The Dark Ages are thought to have been a benighted time, full of primitive ideas.

Example Sentences

It’s more like an existential dilemma, both for our bewildered and benighted country and for the world.

From Salon • Jan. 3, 2026

A young woman from an island community on the brink of extinction sets out on an odyssey across the vastness of the Pacific, hoping to save the people of her benighted home.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 15, 2025

The reference is to that benighted state’s surprising success in improving reading scores for its fourth-graders through a focused program of literacy instruction for teachers and pupils alike.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 3, 2023

In February 2018, she wrote an article for the Washington Post, calling Bostic's sentence "benighted and unjust".

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2023

Nelson, as usual, was the one who finally took pity upon our benighted stupidity and told us what was up: kukwela.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver