learned

American  

[lur-nid, lurnd] / ˈlɜr nɪd, lɜrnd /

adjective

1. having much knowledge; scholarly; erudite.

   learned professors.

2. connected or involved with the pursuit of knowledge, especially of a scholarly nature.

   a learned journal.

3. of or showing learning or knowledge; well-informed.

   learned in the ways of the world.

4. acquired by experience, study, etc..

   learned behavior.

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learned British  

/ ˈlɜːnɪd /

adjective

1. having great knowledge or erudition

2. involving or characterized by scholarship

3. (prenominal) a title applied in referring to a member of the legal profession, esp to a barrister

   my learned friend

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Other Word Forms

• half-learned adjective
• half-learnedly adverb
• learnedly adverb
• learnedness noun
• overlearned adjective
• overlearnedly adverb
• overlearnedness noun
• well-learned adjective

Etymology

Origin of learned

First recorded in 1300–50, learned is from the Middle English word lerned. See learn, -ed ²

Explanation

If you're learned (pronounced LUR-ned), you're highly educated, or you have or show a profound knowledge of some kind. The adjective learned comes from the verb learn. You can use it either to describe someone as having a lot of education, like the learned shopkeeper who used to tell you about the Trojan War while you picked out your candy, or to describe something that doesn't come naturally, but has to be learned (in which case it's pronounced LURND). If you reward your dog when she howls, then her howling will become a learned (LURND) behavior.

Example Sentences

But two decades in Germany, where he learned the language so completely that he sometimes catches himself thinking German, helped mitigate any Yankee Doodle stereotypes by the time he moved to La Liga.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026

Downing Street says it learned this week that the Foreign Office, which oversaw Mandelson's DV process, granted him clearance "against the recommendation" of the vetting agency.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2026

Lauren Michel Wilfong, a lawyer with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said they learned of Villegas’ recent arrest after receiving a voicemail from the detention center around midday Thursday.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026

How Anthropic learned that Mythos was too dangerous for the wild.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026

All she knew about the life of the mud dauber, she’d just now learned.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Related Words

• accomplished
• educated
• scholarly
• scientific
• studied
• well-educated