-nt adjective
Etymology: Middle English ignoraunt, from Middle French ignorant, from Latin ignorant-, ignorans, present participle of ignorare to be ignorant of, ignore — more at ignore
1.
a. : destitute of knowledge : uninstructed , unlearned
an ignorant society
b. : resulting from or exhibiting lack of perception, knowledge, or intelligence
ignorant errors
ignorant public spokesmen
2.
a. : unaware , uninformed
frauds palmed off on an ignorant public
— often used with of or in
ignorant of the true significance of the news
b. : innocent , guileless
ignorant hope
3.
a. : uncivilized , backward , unenlightened
ignorant absolutism
b. : primitive , crude
ignorant devices
Synonyms:
illiterate , unlettered , uneducated , untaught , untutored , unlearned , nescient : ignorant indicates a lack of knowledge, either in general or of a particular point
a population of uncivilized peasants, ignorant, illiterate, superstitious, cruel, and land hungry — G.B.Shaw
the disputants on both sides were ignorant of the matter they were disputing about — Havelock Ellis
illiterate is now most commonly used in reference to inability to read and write or to gross unfamiliarity with the written language and the world of learning
illiterate in the sense that they could not read or write, or … functionally illiterate in the sense that they were unable to understand what they read — I.L.Kandel
as near illiterate as one can be who can read and write, her grammar and spelling being equally uncertain — H.S.Canby
unlettered stresses the fact of unfamiliarity with reading and writing or with written learning, often without any implication of condemnation
even written in English, a paper like this would answer every purpose; for the unlettered natives, standing in great awe of the document, would not dare to molest us — Herman Melville
unlettered provincials who knew their nets, or trades, or farms, but could hardly be expected to follow the Emperor's physician in his theories of Greek science — J.R.Perkins
uneducated and untaught simply indicate lack of formal schooling; the latter is sometimes used to describe natural spontaneity
untaught graces
untutored is sometimes used to refer to the unschooled condition of primitives
the poor Indian, whose untutored mind — Alexander Pope
taught so many flat lies that their false knowledge is more dangerous than the untutored natural wit of savages — G.B.Shaw
unlearned may suggest lack of much learning or ignorance of advanced subjects
such generosity becomes, in effect, a cruel sentimentality, when it crowds the profession with thousands of unwanted persons, most of them relatively unskilled and unlearned — Robert Evett
nescient may apply to a deep, determined, or invincible ignorance of what is outside one's immediate ken
most men are not intended to be any wiser than their cocks and bulls — duly scientific of their yard and pasture, peacefully nescient of all beyond — John Ruskin