unenlightened

adjective

un·en·light·ened ˌən-in-ˈlī-tᵊnd

-en-

: having or showing a lack of necessary knowledge or understanding : not enlightened

… his disregard for society's margins seems particularly unenlightened.

Genevieve Stuttaford

… an audience of unenlightened laymen.

Joyce Carol Oates

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web For the unenlightened, here’s what makes Instant Pots so spectacular: This multi-cooker does it all (and fast).

Amy Eisinger, M.a., SELF, 27 Nov. 2022 Mitchell, who spent much time and energy while living here fighting for racial justice and attempting to enlighten the unenlightened, liked the tweet.

Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 3 Nov. 2022 This has its problems, of course—its xenophobic allegory of rejecting the non-Christian creature of ostensibly old and unenlightened Eastern Europe rings uneasily in an age of resurgent nativism and anti-Semitism.

Jeremy Dauber, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2022 Apparently there are still some unenlightened humans out there who make fun of e-bikes, just like certain close-minded folks once made fun of snowboarders or people who wore fanny packs or rode bikes in jean shorts.

Krista Langlois, Outside Online, 17 Oct. 2022 And then there are the poor, unenlightened souls who insist on eating their pie warm.

Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 16 Sep. 2022 Bella acts as an audience proxy, overwhelmed by all the cultural differences and resistant to join a community that sees her as a helpless, unenlightened Earther.

Joshua Alston, Variety, 6 July 2022 In the bleak moral universe of the show, the powerless are ground up into a paste by grifters sporting the patina of legitimacy that only bottomless cash, connections, and unenlightened self-interest can provide.

David Faris, The Week, 29 Apr. 2022 The opening chapter follows the aforementioned vicar through the damp, unenlightened village of Rohatyn, showing his progress through the Jewish ghetto and into the warrenlike house of a local rabbi.

Jake Bittle, The New Republic, 2 Mar. 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'unenlightened.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.