Synonyms for ignorant
- adjective
Most common
uninformed uneducated unenlightened unlettered ill-informed foolish
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Uninformed
uninformed, uneducated, unenlightened, unlettered, unlearned, uncultured, dumb, untutored, unintelligent, unknowing, untrained, unaware, rude, oblivious, empty-headed, brainless, benighted, unschooled, unwitting, innocent, vacuous, barbarous
2. Ill-informed
ill-informed, foolish, gormless UK IE
Other
illiterate, unskilled, lack-learning dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
Unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance.
- adj. 2
Not knowing (a fact or facts), unaware (of something).
Related words
- Word family
- ignorantism ignorantist ignorantness ignorable ignoramus ignorance ignore
Choose the right word
Ignorant signifies destitute of education or knowledge, or lacking knowledge or information; it is thus a relative term.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- uneducated Tom is uneducated; he understands absolutely nothing.
- illiterate The hosts on this channel are utterly illiterate.
- unskilled He was very unskilled at his job, so the manager fired him.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| ignorant | steady | |
| uneducated | steady | |
| uninformed | steady | |
| unenlightened | steady | |
| unlettered | steady | |
| illiterate | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- dumb1, rude1
- 7 letters
- unaware3, foolish2, vacuous3
- 8 letters
- innocent3, gormless
- 9 letters
- oblivious4, untrained2, unskilled2, brainless2, unwitting3, unknowing3, barbarous3, unlearned, benighted3, untutored
- 10 letters
- illiterate4, uneducated5, uninformed3, uncultured, unschooled, unlettered
- 13 letters
- unintelligent, unenlightened4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (unaware3 = 3 syllables).