benighted

adjective

be·​night·​ed bi-ˈnī-təd How to pronounce benighted (audio)
bē-
1
: overtaken by darkness or night
Benighted travellers … have seen his midnight candle glimmering.W. B. Yeats
2
: existing in a state of intellectual, moral, or social darkness : unenlightened
spreading their message among these poor benighted people
a strange, benighted country
benightedly adverb
benightedness noun

Examples of benighted in a Sentence

the poor benighted souls who do not know the joys of reading
Recent Examples on the Web 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 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 Israel is the only bastion in this benighted region preventing Iran from taking control through its terrorist proxies. Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 27 July 2024 On the ideological battlefield, efforts by Saudi clerics to delegitimize Salafi jihadism might seem hypocritical to Westerners, given the benighted views these clerics themselves hold. F. Gregory Gause Iii, Foreign Affairs, 13 June 2016 See all Example Sentences for benighted 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'benighted.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of benighted was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near benighted

Cite this Entry

“Benighted.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benighted. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

benighted

adjective
be·​night·​ed bi-ˈnīt-əd How to pronounce benighted (audio)

More from Merriam-Webster on benighted

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!