know-nothing
[noh-nuhth-ing]
- an ignorant or totally uninformed person; ignoramus.
- an agnostic.
- (initial capital letters) U.S. History. a member of a political party (American party or Know-Nothing party) prominent from 1853 to 1856, whose aim was to keep control of the government in the hands of native-born citizens: so called because members originally professed ignorance of the party's activities.
- a person whose anti-intellectualism, xenophobia, and other political attitudes recall the Know-Nothings.
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- grossly ignorant; totally uninformed.
- agnostic.
- (initial capital letters) of or relating to the Know-Nothings.
- of or relating to a political know-nothing.
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Origin of know-nothing
First recorded in 1815–25
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for know-nothing
Contemporary Examples
Such revelations seem like the dream come true of know-nothing anti-Catholicism.
Predictably enough, a certain brand of know-nothing militarist sees the need for yet another war.
Now the Russians recognize that Obama will be very different from his know-nothing predecessor.
To be sure, patriot-Americans are not know-nothing nativists or backwater rubes, nor are post-Americans traitors.
Historical Examples
Stuck in this know-nothing Helstonleigh, I can only state the fact that they are made.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
After all I didn't actually accuse David of being a know-nothing.
Grace Harlowe's Golden SummerJessie Graham Flower
Then came the parting of the ways,—Republican, Democrat, or Know-nothing?
The Negro and the NationGeorge S. Merriam
Seems as if there was something the matter with you, beyond what that know-nothing doctor said.
Reels and SpindlesEvelyn Raymond
These are the publications which, in part at least, have given rise to the Know-Nothing organization, so cordially hated by you.
know-nothing
- informal, derogatory an ignorant person
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for know-nothing
n.
"ignoramus," 1827, from know + nothing. As a U.S. nativist political party, active 1853-56, the name refers to the secret society at the core of the party, about which members were instructed to answer, if asked about it, that they "know nothing." The party eventually merged into the Republican Party.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper