ignorant

[ig-ner-uhnt]

adjective

1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned.

   Although he was an ignorant man, he was very excited to learn.

   Synonyms: untaught, untutored, uninstructed
   Antonyms: literate

2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact.

   I admit I'm entirely ignorant of quantum physics.

   Synonyms: unenlightened
   Antonyms: learned

3. uninformed; unaware.

   You'd have to be pretty ignorant not to have heard this news.

4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training.

   Everyone makes an ignorant statement or two when they're first starting out.

ignorant

/ ˈɪɡnərənt /

adjective

1. lacking in knowledge or education; unenlightened

2. lacking in awareness or knowledge (of)

   ignorant of the law

3. resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or awareness

   an ignorant remark

Confusables Note

See stupid ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

• ignorantly adverb
• nonignorant adjective
• nonignorantly adverb
• quasi-ignorant adjective
• quasi-ignorantly adverb
• self-ignorant adjective
• superignorant adjective
• superignorantly adverb
• unignorant adjective
• unignorantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ignorant¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English ignora(u)nt, from Latin ignōrant-, stem of ignōrāns “not knowing,” present participle of ignōrāre “to not know”; ignore ( def. ), -ant ( def. )

Synonym Study

Ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, uneducated mean lacking in knowledge or in training. Ignorant may mean knowing little or nothing, or it may mean uninformed about a particular subject: An ignorant person can be dangerous. I confess I'm ignorant of mathematics. Illiterate originally meant lacking a knowledge of literature or similar learning, but is most often applied now to one unable to read or write: necessary training for illiterate soldiers. Unlettered emphasizes the idea of being without knowledge of literature: unlettered though highly trained in science. Uneducated refers especially to lack of schooling or to lack of access to a body of knowledge equivalent to that learned in schools: uneducated but highly intelligent. None of these words mean "lacking in intelligence."

Example Sentences

Students are encouraged to despise their society and kept ignorant of anything that might make them think otherwise.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

He mocked Senator John Kennedy, a candidate for U.S. president, calling him a “millionaire, illiterate and ignorant.”

Read more on Literature

Duane Roberts made millions off a food he was initially wholly ignorant of: the humble burrito.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“It felt like I had the space to be a beginner and the space to be ignorant.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They inherit the old right’s underbelly: ignorant isolationism, knee-jerk racism, paranoia about Jews, resentment of Washington.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• illiterate 
• innocent 
• naive 
• oblivious 
• obtuse 
• uneducated 
• uninformed