uninitiated

British  

/ ˌʌnɪˈnɪʃɪeɪtɪd /

adjective

1. 1. not having gained knowledge or experience of a particular subject or activity

   2. ( as collective noun ; preceded by the )

      the uninitiated

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Explanation

Someone who's uninitiated is inexperienced or lacking an insider's knowledge of a subject. For the uninitiated viewer, experimental films are just plain strange. If you come into a new situation without any background information or direct experience, you're uninitiated. An uninitiated guest of the Queen will be confused about when to bow or curtsy and which fork to use at lunch. For an uninitiated reader, the names and faces in a celebrity gossip magazine will be meaningless. To be initiated is to have secret or special knowledge. Add the prefix un-, and you get this adjective meaning "lacking knowledge."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

uninitiated

For the uninitiated, the forgetful or the significant others who will dutifully sit along and watch, here’s a primer to catch you up to speed:

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

To the uninitiated, it can seem downright loony.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

We mentioned Harp in a newsletter earlier this week, and my colleague Heather Schwedel wrote a primer for the uninitiated that was among Slate’s most-read articles this week.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

To the uninitiated, Bangaranga seems cast in the mould of nonsensical Eurovision songs like Diggi-Lou, Digg-Lay - but the title actually means "uproar" in Jamaican patois.

From BBC ● May 17, 2026

The names of the tunnels alone—the Variable-Density Tunnel, the Free-Flight Tunnel, the Two-Foot Smoke-Flow Tunnel, the Eleven- Inch High-Speed Tunnel—challenged the uninitiated to imagine the combination of pressure, velocity, and dimension that resided therein.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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