benighted

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benighted

  • /bɪˈnaɪtɪd/ UK
  • /bɪˈnaɪtɪd/ US
  • /bə-/ US
  • [-ɾɪd] US

Sounds like beknighted

Where it comes from

From benight + -ed.

adjective more benighted · most benighted

  1. obsolete, poetic Overtaken by night; especially of a traveller, etc.: caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination. The Porter anſwered, This Man is in a Journey from the City of Deſtruction to Mount Zion, but being weary, and benighted, he asked me if he might lodge here to night; ſo I told him I would call for thee, who after diſcourſe had with him, mayeſt do as ſeemeth thee good, even according to the Law of t

    Similar: belated

  2. obsolete Plunged into darkness. Rob the Spheare of lines vnited, / Make a ſuddaine voide in nature: / Force the day to be benighted, / Reaue the cauſe of time and creature.
  3. figuratively Lacking education or knowledge; unenlightened; also, lacking morality; immoral, unscrupulous. [I]t would be difficult to name any writers who have contributed so much to promote the progress of civilization as "these illustrious authors—these friends of human nature—these kind instructers of human errors and frailties—these benevolent spirits, who held up the torch of science to a benighted

    Similar: belated · Opposite: unbenighted

  4. figuratively, obsolete Difficult to understand; abstruse, obscure. [O]thers, held very good men, are at a dead ſtand, not knovving vvhat to doe or ſay; and are therefore called Seekers, looking for nevv Nuntio's from Chriſt, to aſſoil theſe benighted queſtions, and to give nevv Orders for nevv Churches.

verb

  1. participle, past simple past and past participle of benight

Translations

Every language

adj lacking education or knowledge — see also unenlightened

中文沌 dùn, 溝瞀 /沟瞀 kòumào, 蒙昧 méngmèi, 悶悶 /闷闷 mènmèn, 愚昧 yúmèi

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MLA

"benighted." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/benighted. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

benighted. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/benighted

Chicago

"benighted." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/benighted.

BibTeX
@misc{benighted_2026,
  title = {benighted},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/benighted},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}