ignoramus
Americannoun
plural
ignoramusesnoun
Etymology
Origin of ignoramus
1570–80; < Latin ignōrāmus we ignore (1st person plural present indicative of ignōrāre to be ignorant of, ignore ); hence name of an ignorant lawyer in the play Ignoramus (1615) by the English playwright G. Ruggle, whence current sense
Explanation
If you've ever been afraid to speak up in class, you might be worried that you'll look like an ignoramus, or an uneducated, ignorant person. Calling someone an ignoramus is an insult — it's a colorful way to comment on a person's ignorance or stupidity. The word comes right from the Latin ignoramus, literally "we do not know," which was a legal term in the 16th century that could be used during a trial when the prosecution presented insufficient evidence. After George Ruggle's 1615 play "Ignoramus", it came into popular use to mean "fool" or "dunce."
Vocabulary lists containing ignoramus
Death of a Salesman
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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.
"The nationalist is by definition an ignoramus," Yugoslav writer Danilo Kiš observed.
From Salon • Apr. 12, 2022
The term ignoramus was written on bills of indictment when the evidence presented seemed insufficient to justify prosecution.
From Fox News • Mar. 30, 2020
At the risk of sounding like a complete ignoramus, I learned several new words and a term which is always fun: macher, shtetl, and work blue.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2019
Bird ignoramus that I am, I’m paired with an eagle-eyed National Park employee who, for the length of our six-hour hike, abides my frantic cries of “There’s a bird!” and, sometimes, just “Bird?”
From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2018
“That ignoramus Gowon pledged a miserable, measly amount for more than two million refugees. Did he think it was chickens that died and it is the surviving relatives of those chickens who have returned home?”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
