English Explanatory Dictionary

ignoramus

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A totally ignorant person—unknowledgeable, uneducated, or uninformed; a fool.
noun
  1. A grand jury's ruling on an indictment when the evidence is determined to be insufficient to send the case to trial.
verb
  1. To make such a ruling against (an indictment).

Pronunciation

ĭg′nə-rā′məs /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/ /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹæɪ.məs/ /ˌəɡ.nəˈɹæɪ.məs/ /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹe.məs/ /ˌiɡ.noˈɾeː.mus/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-ignoramus.wav

Word forms

ignoramus ignoramuses ignorami ignoramous ignoramusing ignoramused

Etymology

After the ignorant lawyer Ignoramus, the titular character in the 1615 play Ignoramus by the English playwright George Ruggle; from Latin ignōrāmus (“we do not know, we are unacquainted with, we are ignorant of”), the first-person plural present active indicative of ignōrō (“to not know, to be unacquainted with, to be ignorant of”).

Synonyms

dunce ignoramus jay know-nothing lack-latin mumpsimus nescient numskull rube wild-ass

Antonyms

genius scholar

Related words

charlatan dabbler dilettante smatterer wiseacre ignorant beginner bumpkin idiot fool

Derived words

ignoranus
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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