ignorant
Americanadjective
-
lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned.
Although he was an ignorant man, he was very excited to learn.
- Synonyms:
- untaught, untutored, uninstructed
- Antonyms:
- literate
-
lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact.
I admit I'm entirely ignorant of quantum physics.
- Synonyms:
- unenlightened
- Antonyms:
- learned
-
uninformed; unaware.
You'd have to be pretty ignorant not to have heard this news.
-
due to or showing lack of knowledge or training.
Everyone makes an ignorant statement or two when they're first starting out.
adjective
-
lacking in knowledge or education; unenlightened
-
lacking in awareness or knowledge (of)
ignorant of the law
-
resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or awareness
an ignorant remark
Commonly Confused
See stupid ( def. ).
Synonym Usage
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."
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ignorant
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”; see ignore ( def. ), -ant ( def. )
Explanation
If you make an ignorant comment, your listeners might laugh at you, might get mad at you, or they might patiently instruct you in the ways that you are uninformed. People can be generally ignorant, meaning that they are uneducated and lacking in sophistication. Or people can be ignorant of specific types of information. In fact, we all are. For example, most of us are ignorant of the particulars of nuclear physics and ignorant about what it takes to be an astronaut. Sometimes people are also labeled ignorant if they are rude, inconsiderate, or narrow-minded.
Vocabulary lists containing ignorant
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act I
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List 4
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"Easter, 1916" by W.B. Yeats
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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.
"But when I met my oncologist I realised how ignorant I was and what gargantuan strides medicine has made recently."
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
“It is unconscionable that aircrew and passengers were allowed to fly in that aircraft at that particular moment, ignorant of the danger they were in.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Only those stubbornly ignorant to the human cost of actual combat would be psyched to bring on more of it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
In 2026, Rushdie said violence is the tool of "the unscrupulous using the ignorant" to attack culture.
From Barron's ● Jul. 30, 2026
Sela was the best; all the added muttering, dancing and trickery was done merely to enhance her reputation, to pull the wool over the eyes of stupid ignorant creatures.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
