benighted

[ bih-nahy-tid ]

adjective

1. intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened:

   benighted ages of barbarism and superstition.

   Synonyms: uncultivated, crude, primitive, backward

2. overtaken by darkness or night.

benighted

/ bɪˈnaɪtɪd /

adjective

1. lacking cultural, moral, or intellectual enlightenment; ignorant
2. archaic.
   overtaken by night

Derived Forms

• beˈnightedness, noun
• beˈnightedly, adverb

Other Words From

• be·nighted·ly adverb
• be·nighted·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of benighted¹

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

Example Sentences

After disembarking, the 26-year-old was led away for the crime of reporting on political opposition—exactly the sort of activity essential to the functioning of a democracy, should one ever occur in his benighted homeland.

From Time

Israel looms large here as a malevolent actor that manipulated the benighted Americans into sharing its hostility toward Iran.

From Washington Post

Colonial rhetoric was often virtuous: colonizers would bring civilization to benighted Africans.

From The Daily Beast

But I quickly realized that no one really thought that—and if they did think that, they were too benighted to worry about.

From The Daily Beast

Last week, I took it upon myself to introduce you benighted savages to one of the great comedies of modern times.

From The Daily Beast

I knew immediately where to locate my benighted family and growing restlessness.

From The Daily Beast

In 1975 he went from benighted Warsaw to far more benighted Luanda to cover the civil war in Angola.

From The Daily Beast

One must take a sup of hot liquor when benighted in such freezing snow as this.

From Project Gutenberg

By some direct and primitively human way her benighted mind had reached its determination.

From Project Gutenberg

All this the benighted wanderers observed as they continued to approach cautiously on tiptoe.

From Project Gutenberg

A farmer returning homeward to the parish of Malew from Peel was benighted and lost his way among the mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

The week in which during all the years of many and long ages benighted people sacrificed their Christs to Shylock gods.

From Project Gutenberg