ignoramus

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĭg′nə-rā′məs
• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹæɪ.məs/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌəɡ.nəˈɹæɪ.məs/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹe.məs/
• (India) IPA^(key): /ˌiɡ.noˈɾeː.mus/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪməs

Etymology 1

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 (“I do not know, I am unacquainted with, I am ignorant of”).

Alternative forms

• ignoramous (nonstandard)

Noun

ignoramus (plural ignoramuses or (hypercorrect) ignorami)

2. A totally ignorant person—unknowledgeable, uneducated, or uninformed; a fool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ignoramus

   • 2012 May 31, Clyde Haberman, quoting George F. Will, “Trying to Solve the Great Trump Mystery”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 25 June 2024:

     “The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me,” he said on “This Week,” the ABC News program.

   • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     “I am sorry to say your History teacher is an ignoramus! She can’t even spell ‘Bayeux’!”

Usage notes

The hypercorrect plural form ignorami is seen by most as humorous and nonstandard, as the word derives from a Latin verb, not from a noun.

Derived terms

• ignoranus

Translations

totally ignorant person

• Bashkir: (тома) наҙан ((toma) naźan)
• Bulgarian: невежа (bg) m (neveža)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無知的人 / 无知的人 (wúzhī de rén), 笨蛋 (zh) (bèndàn), 愚人 (zh) (yúrén)

• Czech: ignorant (cs) m, nevědomec m
• Finnish: tolvana (fi), tomppeli (fi)
• French: ignare (fr)
• Georgian: უვიცი (uvici)
• German: Ignorant (de) m, Nichtswisser m, unwissender Mensch m, unwissende Person f, Dummkopf (de) m (pejorative); (for female persons only) Ignorantin (de) f, Nichtswisserin f,
• Hungarian: tudatlan (ember/alak/fráter)
• Icelandic: fávís maður m, fáfróður maður m
• Irish: abhlóir m, ainbhiosán m, aineolaí m, amadán m, dalldramán m, graoisín m, tuata m
• Italian: ignorante (it)
• Korean: 무식쟁이 (musikjaeng'i)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: cahil (ku) m or f, nezan (ku), bêhiş (ku)

• Macedonian: незнајко n (neznajko)
• Maori: rorirori
• Old Church Slavonic: невѣжда f (nevěžda)
• Polish: ignorant (pl) m, ignorantka (pl) f, nieuk (pl) m, abnegat (pl) m, abnegatka f
• Russian: неве́жда (ru) m or f (nevéžda), не́уч (ru) m or f (néuč), профа́н (ru) m (profán), незна́йка (ru) m or f (neznájka)
• Spanish: ignaro (es) m, ignorante (es) m or f, chúntaro (es) m
• Swedish: dumhuvud (sv) n
• Tonga (Malawi): mujira class 1
• Tumbuka: mujira class 1
• Ukrainian: неві́глас m (nevíhlas), незна́йко m (neznájko), не́ук (uk) m (néuk), профа́н m (profán), анальфабе́т (uk) m (analʹfabét) (literary, dated)
• Vietnamese: ếch ngồi đáy giếng (vi)
• Yiddish: עם־⁠האָרץ m (amorets)

Etymology 2

Directly from Latin ignōrāmus (“we do not know”).

Noun

ignoramus (plural ignoramuses)

1. (law, dated) A grand jury's ruling on an indictment when the evidence is determined to be insufficient to send the case to trial.

Verb

ignoramus (third-person singular simple present ignoramuses, present participle ignoramusing, simple past and past participle ignoramused)

1. (law, transitive) To make such a ruling against (an indictment).

Anagrams

• graminous, origanums

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɪŋ.noːˈraː.mʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [iɲ.ɲoˈraː.mus]
• Hyphenation: ig‧nō‧rā‧mus

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

ignōrāmus

1. first-person plural present active indicative of ignōrō

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

ignōrāmus

1. first-person plural pluperfect active indicative of ignōscō