Adjacent Words

Ignoramus definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IGNORA'MUS, n. [L. we are ignorant; from ignoro.]
1. The indorsement which a grand jury make on a bill presented to them for inquiry, when there is not evidence to support the charges, on which all proceedings are stopped, and the accused person is discharged.
2. An ignorant person; a vain pretender to knowledge.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an ignorant person [syn: ignoramus, know nothing, uneducated person]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural -muses; also ignorami) Etymology: Ignoramus, ignorant lawyer in Ignoramus (1615), play by George Ruggle, from Latin, literally, we are ignorant of Date: circa 1616 an utterly ignorant person ; dunce

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. ignoramuses) an ignorant person. Etymology: L, = we do not know: in legal use (formerly of a grand jury rejecting a bill) we take no notice of it; mod. sense perh. from a character in Ruggle's Ignoramus (1615) exposing lawyers' ignorance

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ignoramus Ig`no*ra"mus, n. [L., we are ignorant. See Ignore.] 1. (Law) We are ignorant; we ignore; -- being the word formerly written on a bill of indictment by a grand jury when there was not sufficient evidence to warrant them in finding it a true bill. The phrase now used is, ``No bill,'' ``No true bill,'' or ``Not found,'' though in some jurisdictions ``Ignored'' is still used. --Wharton (Law Dict. ). Burn. 2. (pl. Ignoramuses.) A stupid, ignorant person; a vain pretender to knowledge; a dunce. An ignoramus in place and power. --South.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(ignoramuses) If you describe someone as an ignoramus, you are being critical of them because they do not have the knowledge you think they ought to have. (FORMAL) N-COUNT [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Sciolist, smatterer, novice, wiseacre, greenhorn, simpleton, numskull. See dunce.

Moby Thesaurus

abecedarian, alphabetarian, apprentice, articled clerk, ass, beginner, boot, born fool, buffoon, catechumen, clown, dabbler, debutant, dilettante, doodle, dullard, dullhead, dumbbell, dummkopf, dummy, dunce, egregious ass, entrant, figure of fun, fledgling, fool, freshman, greenhorn, greeny, idiot, illiterate, illiterati, inductee, initiate, jackass, know-nothing, lowbrow, lunatic, middlebrow, milksop, mooncalf, moron, neophyte, new boy, newcomer, no scholar, novice, novitiate, perfect fool, postulant, probationer, probationist, puddinghead, raw recruit, recruit, rookie, schmuck, simpleton, softhead, sop, stupid, stupid ass, tenderfoot, tomfool, tyro, unintelligentsia, zany