as in benighted
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Recent Examples of unenlightened
Both novels engage with the ways that ostensibly academic conversations, like the riverside chats that stud Brideshead or the Greek classes with Julian in The Secret History, can hold erotic subtexts whose meaning might elude the unenlightened eavesdropper.
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Jo Livingstone, The New Republic, 22 Oct. 2021
Today, many scholars dismiss the imperialist, racist logics propounded by the founders of modern international relations theory as merely reflecting the prejudices of an unenlightened era: sins not egregious enough to diminish the value of the sinners’ good works.
—Zachariah Mampilly, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022
Some supporters say that opinion is culturally unenlightened, as rabbit, common in grocery stores and markets in Europe, is a traditional staple in the diets of many foreign countries, and thousands of natives of those countries now live in Connecticut.
—Susan Dunne, courant.com, 21 Mar. 2022
Hops, for the unenlightened.
—Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 23 May 2022
See all Example Sentences for unenlightened 
Jo Livingstone, The New Republic, 22 Oct. 2021
Today, many scholars dismiss the imperialist, racist logics propounded by the founders of modern international relations theory as merely reflecting the prejudices of an unenlightened era: sins not egregious enough to diminish the value of the sinners’ good works.
—Zachariah Mampilly, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022
Some supporters say that opinion is culturally unenlightened, as rabbit, common in grocery stores and markets in Europe, is a traditional staple in the diets of many foreign countries, and thousands of natives of those countries now live in Connecticut.
—Susan Dunne, courant.com, 21 Mar. 2022
Hops, for the unenlightened.
—Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 23 May 2022
See all Example Sentences for unenlightened
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unenlightened
Adjective
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And this is just a small sampling of the kind of far-right legal reasoning that routinely escapes this benighted court.Ian Millhiser, Vox, 25 Sep. 2024
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In its 50th anniversary year, the storied fantasy role-playing game is now making a long-overdue, and noteworthy, correction to its scientifically benighted treatment of race.Steven Dashiell, Scientific American, 31 July 2024
Adjective
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Too many young people are making idiotic short-term financial decisions that hamper long-term success.Chandler Dean, The New Yorker, 24 Jan. 2023
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Beyond the Lungs Two other cardiac cases impressed me — and blew away the idiotic notion that young people are immune to COVID-19.Tony Dajer, Discover Magazine, 30 July 2020
Adjective
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Growing shares in each party describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans.NBC News, NBC News, 22 Dec. 2024
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In short: Wells assumed Neanderthals were unintelligent brutes.Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Adjective
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So Americans who don't travel, who 80 percent don't have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naivete.Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 28 Nov. 2024
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So, Americans who don’t travel, who 80 percent don’t have a passport, who are uneducated, are in their extraordinary naïveté.James Hibberd, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Nov. 2024
Adjective
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Anyone who says she wasn't properly screened is either ignorant or has an agenda.Dan Perry, Newsweek, 2 Jan. 2025
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Who would go out of their way to remain ignorant in the face of an informative lecture on bunker oil?Rachel Kushner, Harper's Magazine, 2 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near unenlightened
Cite this Entry
“Unenlightened.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unenlightened. Accessed 17 Jan. 2025.
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