learned
Americanadjective
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having much knowledge; scholarly; erudite.
learned professors.
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connected or involved with the pursuit of knowledge, especially of a scholarly nature.
a learned journal.
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of or showing learning or knowledge; well-informed.
learned in the ways of the world.
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acquired by experience, study, etc..
learned behavior.
adjective
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having great knowledge or erudition
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involving or characterized by scholarship
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(prenominal) a title applied in referring to a member of the legal profession, esp to a barrister
my learned friend
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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.
Vocabulary lists containing learned
Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
In one of Harvard's lecture theatres, the women's rugby captain Maya Learned put on a video of a United States' match.
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
Klapper says Learned Hand has extensive guardrails to prevent the AI from inventing precedents and making other major mistakes.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
The program, which launched last month, gave half a dozen Los Angeles County civil court judges access to AI software called Learned Hand.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026
Appeared in the November 1, 2025, print edition as 'How I Learned to Turn Off My Stopwatch and Just Run'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 30, 2025
“Oh, it wouldn’t have been so bad. We could have slept in hammocks. Learned Spanish. Lived in a little house with chickens in the yard.”
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Definitions 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.
