enlightened
en·light·ened/ɪnˈlaɪtənd/adjective, noun, verb
enlightened is an adjective meaning “Educated or informed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled E-N-L-I-G-H-T-E-N-E-D and has 3 syllables (en·light·ened), and it appears 3.1 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does enlightened mean?
adjective
- 1
Educated or informed.
- 2
Made aware of something.
- 3
Freed from illusion.
- 4
Extraordinarily wise; having an exceedingly great wisdom.
An enlightened mind does not need external authority.
noun
- 1
Someone who has been introduced to the mysteries of some activity, religion especially Buddhism
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of enlighten
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce enlightened?
- /ɪnˈlaɪtənd/
Enlightened has 3 syllables, split en·light·ened in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-enlightened.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of enlightened
- more enlightened comparative
- most enlightened superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is enlightened?
Enlightened appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Enlightened in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | aufgeklärt, informiert , erleuchtet |
| Spanish | informado, educado , iluminado, sabio |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.