ignorant

I

(Roget's IV) modif.

1. [Unaware]

Syn. unconscious, uninformed, unknowing, uninitiated, inexperienced, unwitting, unmindful, disregarding, misinformed, unsuspecting, oblivious, insensible, mindless, witless, unconversant with, unintelligent, obtuse, thick, dense, moronic, imbecilic, shallow-brained, cretinous, unbookish, inept at learning, not gifted in learning, unscholarly, unscientific, half-learned, bird-brained*, sappy*, in the dark*, out of it*; see also sense 2, dull 3 , shallow 2 , stupid 1 , unaware .

Ant. alert, aware, cognizant.

2. [Untrained]

Syn. illiterate, uneducated, unlettered, unlearned, untaught, uninstructed, uncultivated, unenlightened, untutored, unread, unschooled, inexperienced, uninformed, nescient, benighted, superstitious, shallow, superficial, coarse, vulgar, crude, gross, gauche, callow, green, naive, simple, ingenuous, inerudite, know-nothing, destitute of knowledge, misinformed, misguided, just beginning, undergoing apprenticeship, apprenticed, unbriefed, lowbrow*; see also inexperienced , naive .

Ant. learned*, educated, knowledgeable.

Syn.- ignorant implies a lack of knowledge, either generally [ an ignorant man ] or on some particular subject [ignorant of the reason for their quarrel ] ; illiterate implies a failure to conform to some standard of knowledge, esp. an inability to read or write; unlettered , sometimes a milder term for illiterate , often implies unfamiliarity with fine literature [ although a graduate engineer, he is relatively unlettered] ; uneducated and untutored imply a lack of formal or systematic education, as of that acquired in schools [ his brilliant, though uneducated mind ] ; unlearned suggests a lack of learning, either generally or in some specific subject [unlearned in science ]

II

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) a.

uneducated, inexperienced, unschooled, stupid, retarded, unenlightened, illiterate, dense, *thick, naive, unfamiliar, unaware, unconscious, empty-headed, innocent, unlettered, obtuse, oblivious, mindless, moronic, sophomoric, nescient, green, *dense as a post, *numb as a hake. ''Confident in everything.''—Charles Spurgeon. ''What everybody is, only on different subjects.''—Will Rogers.

ANT.: educated, aware, experienced, schooled, conscious

III

(Roget's Thesaurus II) adjective 1. Without education or knowledge: illiterate, nescient, uneducated, uninstructed, unlearned, unschooled, untaught. See KNOWLEDGE. 2. Exhibiting lack of education or knowledge: backward, benighted, primitive, unenlightened. See KNOWLEDGE. 3. Not aware or informed: innocent, oblivious, unacquainted, unaware, unconscious, unenlightened, unfamiliar, uninformed, unknowing, unwitting. Idiom: in the dark. See KNOWLEDGE.