as in ignorant
lacking in education or the knowledge gained from books
the poor benighted souls who do not know the joys of reading
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Recent Examples of benighted
Even with Dibble effortlessly laying waste to every point and argument made by his benighted co-guest, Joe Rogan remained unconvinced.
—
Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 1 Dec. 2025
With the midterm election still nearly a year off — and the 2028 presidential contest eons away — many of those angry or despondent over the benighted state of our union desperately wanted to do something to push back.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
In particular, a conviction that the Internet and free trade would attract benighted countries toward liberal democratic capitalism became commonplace.
—Benn Steil, Foreign Affairs, 3 Oct. 2025
Like the original Outlander, Blood of My Blood is believably frank about the possibility of assault in the benighted past.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for benighted
Rafael Perez, Oc Register, 1 Dec. 2025
With the midterm election still nearly a year off — and the 2028 presidential contest eons away — many of those angry or despondent over the benighted state of our union desperately wanted to do something to push back.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Mercury News, 8 Nov. 2025
In particular, a conviction that the Internet and free trade would attract benighted countries toward liberal democratic capitalism became commonplace.
—Benn Steil, Foreign Affairs, 3 Oct. 2025
Like the original Outlander, Blood of My Blood is believably frank about the possibility of assault in the benighted past.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for benighted
Recent Examples of Synonyms for benighted
ignorant
Adjective
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But even for someone like myself, totally ignorant to the lore and not really seeking to change that, the Star Wars universe can look genuinely interesting, and some games every now and then manage to tap into that potential.—
Adam Ismail,
The Drive,
30 Apr. 2026
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Jahmil Eady – Freaky As gentrifiers take over her neighborhood, a Gullah Geechee woman, Annabelle (Melanie Nicholls-King) calls on ancestral knowledge, which has dire consequences for the newcomers who have begun to take over the land, ignorant of its history.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Benighted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benighted. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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