ignorant

[ig-ner-uhnt]

adjective

1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned.

   Although he was an ignorant man, he was very excited to learn.

   Synonyms: untaught, untutored, uninstructed
   Antonyms: literate

2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact.

   I admit I'm entirely ignorant of quantum physics.

   Synonyms: unenlightened
   Antonyms: learned

3. uninformed; unaware.

   You'd have to be pretty ignorant not to have heard this news.

4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training.

   Everyone makes an ignorant statement or two when they're first starting out.

ignorant

/ ˈɪɡnərənt /

adjective

1. lacking in knowledge or education; unenlightened

2. lacking in awareness or knowledge (of)

   ignorant of the law

3. resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or awareness

   an ignorant remark

Confusables Note

See stupid ( def. ).

Other Word Forms

• ignorantly adverb
• nonignorant adjective
• nonignorantly adverb
• quasi-ignorant adjective
• quasi-ignorantly adverb
• self-ignorant adjective
• superignorant adjective
• superignorantly adverb
• unignorant adjective
• unignorantly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ignorant¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English ignora(u)nt, from Latin ignōrant-, stem of ignōrāns “not knowing,” present participle of ignōrāre “to not know”; ignore ( def. ), -ant ( def. )

Synonym Study

Ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, uneducated mean lacking in knowledge or in training. Ignorant may mean knowing little or nothing, or it may mean uninformed about a particular subject: An ignorant person can be dangerous. I confess I'm ignorant of mathematics. Illiterate originally meant lacking a knowledge of literature or similar learning, but is most often applied now to one unable to read or write: necessary training for illiterate soldiers. Unlettered emphasizes the idea of being without knowledge of literature: unlettered though highly trained in science. Uneducated refers especially to lack of schooling or to lack of access to a body of knowledge equivalent to that learned in schools: uneducated but highly intelligent. None of these words mean "lacking in intelligence."

Example Sentences

All Californians need to stand up to people who not only want to remain willfully ignorant about the bad parts of our history but also want to stop others from learning about them.

From Los Angeles Times

Ned may be driven by an outdated sense of devotion to yesterday’s journalism, when reporters attended local government meetings and exposed malfeasance about which his neighbors would otherwise be ignorant.

From Salon

“It felt like I had the space to be a beginner, and the space to be ignorant.”

From Los Angeles Times

The ”poor ignorant folk” in Holmes’ mind were the undereducated country people of 19th-century England.

From Salon

Sometimes I don’t know when I’m being ignorant or not.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• illiterate 
• innocent 
• naive 
• oblivious 
• obtuse 
• uneducated 
• uninformed