ignorance
/ˈɪɡ.nɚ.əns/noun
ignorance is spelled I-G-N-O-R-A-N-C-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ignorance means “The condition of being uninformed or uneducated; lack of knowledge or information” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ignorance is ignorances.
How many letters and syllables are in ignorance?
| Letters | 9: I-G-N-O-R-A-N-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,674th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is ignorance?
Ignorance appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,674th 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).
How do you pronounce ignorance?
- UK /ˈɪɡ.nə.ɹəns/
- US /ˈɪɡ.nɚ.əns/
- Australia /ˈɪɡ.nə.ɹəns/
Ignorance has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ignorance.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ignorance
- ignorances plural
- ignoraunce
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ignorance mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The condition of being uninformed or uneducated; lack of knowledge or information.
She shows total ignorance about the topic at hand.
- 2
Sins committed through ignorance.
- 3
Existential blindness.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ignorance in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense condition of being uninformed or uneducated:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ignorance |
| German | Unwissenheit, Unwissen, Nichtwissen |
| Portuguese | ignorância |
| Spanish | ignorancia |
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.
Where does ignorance come from?
From Middle English ignoraunce, ignorance, from From Old French ignorance, from Latin ignōrantia. By surface analysis, ignor(e) + -ance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).