[ig.no.rant] adj (14c) 1 a: destitute of knowledge or education "an ~ society"; also: lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified "parents ~ of modern mathematics" b: resulting from or showing lack of knowledge or intelligence "~ errors"
2: unaware, uninformed -- ig.no.rant.ly adv -- ig.no.rant.ness n syn ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, untutored, unlearned mean not having knowledge. ignorant may imply a general condition or it may apply to lack of knowledge or awareness of a particular thing "an ignorant fool" "ignorant of nuclear physics". illiterate applies to either an absolute or a relative inability to read and write "much of the population is still illiterate". unlettered implies ignorance of the knowledge gained by reading "an allusion meaningless to the unlettered". untutored may imply lack of schooling in the arts and ways of civilization "strange monuments built by an untutored people". unlearned suggests ignorance of advanced subjects "poetry not for academics but for the unlearned masses".