benighted
adjective
be·night·ed
bi-ˈnī-təd 
bē-
1
: overtaken by darkness or night
Benighted travellers … have seen his midnight candle glimmering.—
W. B. Yeats
W. B. Yeats2
: 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
Synonyms
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
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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
Dictionary Entries Near benighted
Cite this Entry
“Benighted.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/benighted. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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benighted
adjective
be·night·ed
bi-ˈnīt-əd
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