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

She told Altman that Musk was the father the following year, when she learned a Business Insider report on Musk's paternity of the children was imminent.

From BBC • May 6, 2026

Days later, he learned that the severe disease typically carried by rodents may have transmitted person-to-person.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

And you learned that thanks to the clippers.

From Slate • May 6, 2026

MarketWatch: With a career spanning 500 M&A deals and decades in business, you’ve obviously learned from experience.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

I have this sense that she might be able to plug my answers into a formula I never learned and tell me what the heck is going on.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

Related Words

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