Adjacent Words

Ignorant definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

IG'NORANT, a. [L. ignorans.] Destitute of knowledge; uninstructed or uninformed; untaught; unenlightened. A man may be ignorant of the law, or of any art or science. He may be ignorant of his own rights, or of the rights of others.
1. Unknown; undiscovered; a poetical use; as ignorant concealment.
2. Unacquainted with.
Ignorant of guilt, I fear not shame.
3. Unskillfully made or done. [Not legitimate.]
Poor ignorant baubles.
IG'NORANT, n. A person untaught or uninformed; one unlettered or unskilled.
Did I for this take pains to teach
Our zealous ignorants to preach?

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication; "an ignorant man"; "nescient of contemporary literature"; "an unlearned group incapable of understanding complex issues"; "exhibiting contempt for his unlettered companions" [syn: ignorant, nescient, unlearned, unlettered]
2: uneducated in the fundamentals of a given art or branch of learning; lacking knowledge of a specific field; "she is ignorant of quantum mechanics"; "he is musically illiterate" [syn: ignorant, illiterate]
3: unaware because of a lack of relevant information or knowledge; "he was completely ignorant of the circumstances"; "an unknowledgeable assistant"; "his rudeness was unwitting" [syn: ignorant, unknowledgeable, unknowing, unwitting]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century 1. a. destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified <parents ignorant of modern mathematics> b. resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence <ignorant errors> 2. unaware, uninformed • ignorantly adverb • ignorantness noun Synonyms: ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, untutored, unlearned mean not having knowledge. ignorant may imply a general condition or it may apply to lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing <an ignorant fool> <ignorant of nuclear physics>. illiterate applies to either an absolute or a relative inability to read and write <much of the population is still illiterate>. unlettered implies ignorance of the knowledge gained by reading <an allusion meaningless to the unlettered>. untutored may imply lack of schooling in the arts and ways of civilization <strange monuments built by an untutored people>. unlearned suggests ignorance of advanced subjects <poetry not for academics but for the unlearned masses>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 a lacking knowledge. b (foll. by of, in) uninformed (about a fact or subject). 2 colloq. ill-mannered, uncouth. Derivatives: ignorantly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L ignorare ignorant- (as IGNORE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ignorant Ig"no*rant, a. [F., fr. L. ignorans, -antis, p. pr. of ignorare to be ignorant. See Ignore.] 1. Destitute of knowledge; uninstructed or uninformed; untaught; unenlightened. He that doth not know those things which are of use for him to know, is but an ignorant man, whatever he may know besides. --Tillotson. 2. Unacquainted with; unconscious or unaware; -- used with of. Ignorant of guilt, I fear not shame. --Dryden. 3. Unknown; undiscovered. [Obs.] Ignorant concealment. --Shak. Alas, what ignorant sin have I committed? --Shak. 4. Resulting from ignorance; foolish; silly. His shipping, Poor ignorant baubles! -- on our terrible seas, Like eggshells moved. --Shak. Syn: Uninstructed; untaught; unenlightened; uninformed; unlearned; unlettered; illiterate. -- Ignorant, Illiterate. Ignorant denotes want of knowledge, either as to single subject or information in general; illiterate refers to an ignorance of letters, or of knowledge acquired by reading and study. In the Middle Ages, a great proportion of the higher classes were illiterate, and yet were far from being ignorant, especially in regard to war and other active pursuits. In such business Action is eloquence, and the eyes of the ignorant More learned than the ears. --Shak. In the first ages of Christianity, not only the learned and the wise, but the ignorant and illiterate, embraced torments and death. --Tillotson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ignorant Ig"no*rant, n. A person untaught or uninformed; one unlettered or unskilled; an ignoramous. Did I for this take pains to teach Our zealous ignorants to preach? --Denham.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If you describe someone as ignorant, you mean that they do not know things they should know. If someone is ignorant of a fact, they do not know it. People don't like to ask questions for fear of appearing ignorant... ADJ: oft ADJ of/about n 2. People are sometimes described as ignorant when they do something that is not polite or kind. Some people think that it is not correct to use ignorant with this meaning. ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Unlearned, uninstructed, uninformed, uneducated, untaught, unenlightened, blind, illiterate, unlettered, dark.

Moby Thesaurus

a novice at, a stranger to, awkward, benighted, blankminded, boorish, brainless, callow, crude, disaccustomed, discourteous, dumb, empty, empty-headed, foolish, fresh, gauche, green, green as grass, groping, gross, headless, ill-mannered, illiterate, immature, impolite, in the dark, inane, incognizant, inept, inexperienced, ingenuous, innocent, insensate, irrational, know-nothing, lackbrained, lean-minded, lean-witted, lowbrow, mindless, naive, nescient, new to, not bright, oblivious, of little brain, pea-brained, pin-brained, raw, reasonless, rude, rusty, senseless, simple, slackminded, slackwitted, strange to, tentative, unaccustomed, unaccustomed to, unacquainted, unacquainted with, unapprized, unaware, uncivil, uncomprehending, unconscious, unconversant, unconversant with, uncouth, uncultured, undeveloped, uneducated, unenlightened, unexperienced, unfamiliar, unfamiliar with, unfledged, ungifted, unhabituated, unhardened, unilluminated, uninformed, uninitiated, uninitiated in, uninstructed, unintellectual, unintelligent, uninured, unknowing, unlearned, unlettered, unmatured, unposted, unpracticed, unpracticed in, unprogressive, unread, unreasoning, unripe, unschooled, unseasoned, unskilled in, unsophisticated, unsure, untalented, untaught, unthinking, untrained, untried, untutored, unused, unused to, unversed, unversed in, unwise, unwitting, unwonted, vacuous, weaned, witless