ignorant

English

Alternative forms

• ignoraunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Old French ignorant. By surface analysis, ignore +‎ -ant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪɡnəɹənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ig‧no‧rant

Adjective

ignorant (comparative ignoranter or more ignorant, superlative ignorantest or most ignorant)

1. Unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance.
   • 1664, John Tillotson, “Sermon I. The Wisdom of Being Religious. Job XXVIII. 28.”, in The Works of the Most Reverend Dr. John Tillotson, Late Lord Archbishop of Canterbury: , 8th edition, London: T. Goodwin, B Tooke, and J. Pemberton, ; J. Round , and J Tonson] , published 1720, →OCLC:

     That man that doth not know those things which are of use and necessity for him to know, is but an ignorant man, whatever he may know besides;

   • 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, chapter 15, in The Vicar of Wakefield‎, volume I, London: F. Newbery, page 150:

     The ignorant peasant, without fault, is greater than the philosopher with many; for what is genius or courage without an heart?

2. Not knowing (a fact or facts), unaware (of something).
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 1:8:

     For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

   • 1677, John Dryden, The State of Innocence and Fall of Man‎, London: Henry Herringman, act II, page 14:

     Eve. Somewhat forbids me, which I cannot name;
     For ignorant of guilt, I fear not shame:
     But some restraining thought, I know not why,
     Tells me, you long should beg, I long deny.

   • 1851, Walt Whitman, “Art and Artists” in Emory Holloway (editor), The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1921, Volume 1, p. 242,

     perhaps it is sometimes the case that the greatest artists live and die, the world and themselves alike ignorant what they possess.

   • 1921, John T. McCutcheon, The Restless Age‎, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, page 179:

     That night he slept the sleep of happiness, blissfully ignorant that he had placed the letters in the wrong envelopes.

3. (slang) Ill-mannered, crude.

   His manner was at best off-hand, at worst totally ignorant.

4. (obsolete) unknown; undiscovered
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     Alas, what ignorant sin have I committed?

   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     […] I beseech you,
     If you know aught which does behove my knowledge
     Thereof to be inform’d, imprison't not
     In ignorant concealment.

   • 1845, Robert Browning, letter addressed to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, cited in Percy Lubbock, Elizabeth Barrett Browning in Her Letters, London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1906, Chapter 4, p. 106,

     as to you, your goodness and understanding will always see to the bottom of involuntary or ignorant faults—always help me to correct them.

5. Resulting from ignorance; foolish; silly.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     […] his shipping—
     Poor ignorant baubles!— upon our terrible seas,
     Like eggshells moved upon their surges, crack’d
     As easily ’gainst our rocks:

   • 1916, Mark Twain, chapter 8, in Albert Paine, editor, The Mysterious Stranger‎, New York: Harper & Bros., page 112:

     He had never felt a pain or a sorrow, and did not know what they were, in any really informing way. He had no knowledge of them except theoretically—that is to say, intellectually. And of course that is no good. One can never get any but a loose and ignorant notion of such things except by experience.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ignorant

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

ignorant (plural ignorants)

1. One who is ignorant.

Anagrams

• ornating

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central)
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencian)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin ignōrantem.

Adjective

ignorant m or f (masculine and feminine plural ignorants)

1. ignorant

Related terms

• ignorància
• ignorar

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

ignorant

1. gerund of ignorar

Further reading

• “ignorant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ignorant”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “ignorant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ignorant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -orant

Noun

ignorant m anim

1. ignoramus, ignorant

   Synonyms: nevědomec, neználek

   Antonym: znalec

   Antonym: vševěd

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

• ignorant in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• ignorant in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• ignorant in Akademický slovník cizích slov, 1995, at prirucka.ujc.cas.cz

Danish

Etymology

From Latin ignōrāns (“not knowing”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): , ,

Adjective

ignorant (plural and definite singular attributive ignorante)

1. ignorant

Inflection

ignorant

Noun

ignorant c (singular definite ignoranten, plural indefinite ignoranter)

1. ignoramus

Inflection

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪɣnoˈrɑnt/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

ignorant (comparative ignoranter, superlative ignorantst)

1. ignorant

Inflection

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.ɲɔ.ʁɑ̃/
• Homophone: ignorants

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Latin ignōrantem.

Adjective

ignorant (feminine ignorante, masculine plural ignorants, feminine plural ignorantes)

1. ignorant

Related terms

• ignorance
• ignorer

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Participle

ignorant

1. present participle of ignorer

Further reading

• “ignorant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ignōrāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡnɔˈʁant/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ant

Adjective

ignorant (strong nominative masculine singular ignoranter, comparative ignoranter, superlative am ignorantesten)

1. willfully ignorant, arrogantly disinterested in knowlegde

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

• “ignorant” in Duden online
• “ignorant” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /iɡˈnoː.rant/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /iɲˈɲo.rant/,

Etymology 1

Verb

ignōrant

1. third-person plural present active indicative of ignōrō

Etymology 2

Verb

ignōrant

1. third-person plural pluperfect active indicative of ignōscō

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin ignōrāns.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

ignorant m (feminine singular ignoranta, masculine plural ignorants, feminine plural ignorantas)

1. ignorant

Related terms

• ignoráncia
• ignorar

Piedmontese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iɲuˈraŋt/

Adjective

ignorant

1. ignorant

Related terms

• ignoransa
• ignoré

Noun

ignorant m

1. ignorant (person)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ignōrantis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iɡˈnɔ.rant/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔrant
• Syllabification: ig‧no‧rant

Noun

ignorant m pers (female equivalent ignorantka)

1. ignorant

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• ignorant in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• ignorant in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ignorant.

Adjective

ignorant m or n (feminine singular ignorantă, masculine plural ignoranți, feminine and neuter plural ignorante)

1. ignorant

Declension

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /iɡnǒrant/
• Hyphenation: ig‧no‧rant

Noun

ignòrant m (Cyrillic spelling игно̀рант)

1. ignorant

Declension