ignorant

See also: 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[enjamin] Tooke, and J. Pemberton, […]; J. Round […], and J[acob] 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^[1], 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^[2], 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,^[3]

     […] 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^[4], 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

     […] 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,^[5]

     […] 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[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     […] 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^[6], 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

• ignorantly
• pig-ignorant

 

Related terms

• agnorant
• ignorable
• ignoramus
• ignorance
• ignore

 

Translations

characterized by ignorance

• Albanian: injorant (sq)
• Arabic: جَاهِل (jāhil)

  Egyptian Arabic: جاهل (gāhil)

  Hijazi Arabic: جاهل m (jāhil)

• Armenian: տգետ (hy) (tget), անգրագետ (hy) (angraget)
• Asturian: inorante
• Azerbaijani: cahil (az)
• Bashkir: наҙан (naźan)
• Basque: ezjakin
• Belarusian: не́вуцкі (njévucki), неадукава́ны (njeadukavány), нягра́матны (njahrámatny), няпісьме́нны (njapisʹmjénny), цёмны (be) (cjómny)
• Bulgarian: негра́мотен (bg) (negrámoten), необразо́ван (bg) (neobrazóvan), неу́к (bg) (neúk)
• Catalan: ignorant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無知／无知 (zh) (wúzhī)

• Czech: ignorantský, nevzdělaný, neznalý
• Dutch: onwetend (nl), ignorant (nl)
• Esperanto: malklera
• Finnish: tietämätön (fi), moukka (fi)
• French: ignorant (fr)
• Galician: ignorante (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: ignorant (de)
• Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐍆𐍂𐍉𐌸𐍃 (unfrōþs), 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unweis), 𐌿𐌽𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽𐌳𐍃 (unkunnands)
• Greek: αδαής (el) (adaḯs)

  Ancient: ἀμαθής (amathḗs)

• Hungarian: tudatlan (hu), tájékozatlan (hu)
• Indonesian: bebal (id)
• Irish: ainbhiosach, aibéiseach
• Italian: ignorante (it)
• Japanese: 無知 (ja) (むち, muchi)
• Kazakh: бейхабар (beixabar)
• Khmer: ល្ងង់ខ្លៅ (lngŭəng khlaw)
• Korean: 무지하다 (ko) (mujihada), 무식하다 (ko) (musikhada), 무학하다 (muhakhada), 배운 데 없다 (bae'un de eopda), 멍청하다 (ko) (meongcheonghada) (informal)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} نەزان (ckb) (nezan)

  Northern Kurdish: nezan (ku)

• Latin: inscītus, ignārus
• Macedonian: не́ук (néuk), необра́зован (neobrázovan), не́писмен (népismen), непро́светен (neprósveten), негра́мотен (negrámoten) (archaic)
• Malay: jahil (ms)
• Malayalam: പാമരൻ (ml) (pāmaraṉ)
• Middle English: bestial
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: innouothant (Jersey)
• Norwegian Bokmål: uvitende (no)
• Occitan: ignorant (oc)
• Old English: unġewiss
• Persian: نادان (fa) (nâdân), عامی (fa) ('âmi)
• Polish: ignorancki
• Portuguese: ignorante (pt)
• Punjabi: ਬੇਖਬਰ (bekhbar)
• Romanian: ignorant (ro)
• Russian: неве́жественный (ru) (nevéžestvennyj), необразо́ванный (ru) (neobrazóvannyj), негра́мотный (ru) (negrámotnyj), тёмный (ru) (tjómnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: ainfhiosach, ainfhiosrach
• Slovak: nevzdelaný
• Slovene: neveden (sl)
• Spanish: ignorante (es), ignaro (es)
• Swedish: ovetande (sv), okunnig (sv)
• Tagalog: bano, mangmang
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: cahil (tr)
• Ukrainian: не́уцький (néucʹkyj), неосві́чений (neosvíčenyj), неодуко́ваний (neodukóvanyj), неписьме́нний (nepysʹménnyj), негра́мотний (nehrámotnyj), те́мний (uk) (témnyj)
• Vietnamese: ngu dốt (vi), dốt nát (vi), mù chữ (vi)
• Welsh: anwybodus (cy)

unaware

• Esperanto: senscia

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Manx: ^{(please verify)} almoragh, ^{(please verify)} neuhoiggalagh, ^{(please verify)} neuynsit, ^{(please verify)} lag-hastagh, ^{(please verify)} neuhoiggaltagh, ^{(please verify)} lag-hushtagh, ^{(please verify)} anoayllagh, ^{(please verify)} meehushtagh
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} inculto (es)

Noun

ignorant (plural ignorants)

1. One who is ignorant.

Anagrams

• ornating

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [iŋ.nuˈɾan]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [iŋ.noˈɾant]

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): [ˈɪɡnorant]
• Rhymes: -orant

Noun

ignorant m anim

1. ignoramus, ignorant

   Synonyms: nevědomec, neználek

   Antonym: znalec

   Antonym: vševěd

Declension

Declension of ignorant (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	ignorant	ignoranti
genitive	ignoranta	ignorantů
dative	ignorantovi, ignorantu	ignorantům
accusative	ignoranta	ignoranty
vocative	ignorante	ignoranti
locative	ignorantovi, ignorantu	ignorantech
instrumental	ignorantem	ignoranty

Related terms

• ignorovat

 

Further reading

• “ignorant”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ignorant”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 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): [injoˈʁɑnˀd̥], [enjoˈʁɑnˀd̥], [inoˈʁɑnˀd̥]

Adjective

ignorant (plural and definite singular attributive ignorante)

1. ignorant

Inflection

ignorant

Noun

ignorant c (singular definite ignoranten, plural indefinite ignoranter)

1. ignoramus

Inflection

Declension of ignorant

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ignorant	ignoranten	ignoranter	ignoranterne
genitive	ignorants	ignorantens	ignoranters	ignoranternes

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪɣnoːˈrɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

ignorant (comparative ignoranter, superlative ignorantst)

1. ignorant

Declension

Declension of ignorant
uninflected	ignorant
inflected	ignorante
comparative	ignoranter
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		ignorant	ignoranter	het ignorantst het ignorantste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	ignorante	ignorantere	ignorantste
	n. sing.	ignorant	ignoranter	ignorantste
	plural	ignorante	ignorantere	ignorantste
definite		ignorante	ignorantere	ignorantste
partitive		ignorants	ignoranters	—

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 [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 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 knowledge

Declension

Positive forms of ignorant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist ignorant	sie ist ignorant	es ist ignorant	sie sind ignorant
strong declension (without article)	nominative	ignoranter	ignorante	ignorantes	ignorante
	genitive	ignoranten	ignoranter	ignoranten	ignoranter
	dative	ignorantem	ignoranter	ignorantem	ignoranten
	accusative	ignoranten	ignorante	ignorantes	ignorante
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der ignorante	die ignorante	das ignorante	die ignoranten
	genitive	des ignoranten	der ignoranten	des ignoranten	der ignoranten
	dative	dem ignoranten	der ignoranten	dem ignoranten	den ignoranten
	accusative	den ignoranten	die ignorante	das ignorante	die ignoranten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein ignoranter	eine ignorante	ein ignorantes	(keine) ignoranten
	genitive	eines ignoranten	einer ignoranten	eines ignoranten	(keiner) ignoranten
	dative	einem ignoranten	einer ignoranten	einem ignoranten	(keinen) ignoranten
	accusative	einen ignoranten	eine ignorante	ein ignorantes	(keine) ignoranten

Comparative forms of ignorant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist ignoranter	sie ist ignoranter	es ist ignoranter	sie sind ignoranter
strong declension (without article)	nominative	ignoranterer	ignorantere	ignoranteres	ignorantere
	genitive	ignoranteren	ignoranterer	ignoranteren	ignoranterer
	dative	ignoranterem	ignoranterer	ignoranterem	ignoranteren
	accusative	ignoranteren	ignorantere	ignoranteres	ignorantere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der ignorantere	die ignorantere	das ignorantere	die ignoranteren
	genitive	des ignoranteren	der ignoranteren	des ignoranteren	der ignoranteren
	dative	dem ignoranteren	der ignoranteren	dem ignoranteren	den ignoranteren
	accusative	den ignoranteren	die ignorantere	das ignorantere	die ignoranteren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein ignoranterer	eine ignorantere	ein ignoranteres	(keine) ignoranteren
	genitive	eines ignoranteren	einer ignoranteren	eines ignoranteren	(keiner) ignoranteren
	dative	einem ignoranteren	einer ignoranteren	einem ignoranteren	(keinen) ignoranteren
	accusative	einen ignoranteren	eine ignorantere	ein ignoranteres	(keine) ignoranteren

Superlative forms of ignorant

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am ignorantesten	sie ist am ignorantesten	es ist am ignorantesten	sie sind am ignorantesten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	ignorantester	ignoranteste	ignorantestes	ignoranteste
	genitive	ignorantesten	ignorantester	ignorantesten	ignorantester
	dative	ignorantestem	ignorantester	ignorantestem	ignorantesten
	accusative	ignorantesten	ignoranteste	ignorantestes	ignoranteste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der ignoranteste	die ignoranteste	das ignoranteste	die ignorantesten
	genitive	des ignorantesten	der ignorantesten	des ignorantesten	der ignorantesten
	dative	dem ignorantesten	der ignorantesten	dem ignorantesten	den ignorantesten
	accusative	den ignorantesten	die ignoranteste	das ignoranteste	die ignorantesten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein ignorantester	eine ignoranteste	ein ignorantestes	(keine) ignorantesten
	genitive	eines ignorantesten	einer ignorantesten	eines ignorantesten	(keiner) ignorantesten
	dative	einem ignorantesten	einer ignorantesten	einem ignorantesten	(keinen) ignorantesten
	accusative	einen ignorantesten	eine ignoranteste	ein ignorantestes	(keine) ignorantesten

Related terms

• Ignorant
• Ignoranz
• ignorieren

 

Further reading

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

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /iɡˈnoː.rant/, [ɪŋˈnoːrän̪t̪]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /iɲˈɲo.rant/, [iɲˈɲɔːrän̪t̪]

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

Learned borrowing from Latin ignōrantis.

Noun

ignorant m pers (female equivalent ignorantka)

1. ignorant

Declension

Declension of ignorant

	singular	plural
nominative	ignorant	ignoranci/ignoranty (deprecative)
genitive	ignoranta	ignorantów
dative	ignorantowi	ignorantom
accusative	ignoranta	ignorantów
instrumental	ignorantem	ignorantami
locative	ignorancie	ignorantach
vocative	ignorancie	ignoranci

Derived terms

adjective

• ignorancki

 

Related terms

noun

• ignorancja

 

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

Declension of ignorant

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	ignorant		ignorantă	ignoranți	ignorante
	definite	ignorantul		ignoranta	ignoranții	ignorantele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	ignorant		ignorante	ignoranți	ignorante
	definite	ignorantului		ignorantei	ignoranților	ignorantelor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

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

Noun

ignòrant m (Cyrillic spelling игно̀рант)

1. ignorant

Declension

Declension of ignorant

	singular	plural
nominative	ignòrant	ignoranti
genitive	ignoranta	ignòranātā
dative	ignorantu	ignorantima
accusative	ignoranta	ignorante
vocative	ignorante	ignoranti
locative	ignorantu	ignorantima
instrumental	ignorantom	ignorantima