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ignorant

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

8 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "ignorant", 8-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "ignorant" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "ignorant" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

ignorant is anEnglishadj. It means: Unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance. Pronounced /ˈɪɡnəɹənt/. It ranks #6,581 in English word frequency. Often confused with ignoring and ignorance.

Key facts for ignorant
PropertyValue
Headwordignorant
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/ˈɪɡnəɹənt/
Letters8
Frequency rank#6,581
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of ignorant in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for ignorant is 8 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪɡnəɹənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,581 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 12 documented wrong-spelling variants for ignorant, with forms such as "ginorant", "iggnorant", and "ignnorant". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "ignoring", "ignorance", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French ignorant, from Latin ignōrāns (“unaware, unknowing”). By surface analysis, ignore + -ant. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is ignorant, spelled I-G-N-O-R-A-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance.
  2. 2
    Not knowing (a fact or facts), unaware (of something).
  3. 3
    Ill-mannered, crude.
  4. 4
    Unknown; undiscovered
  5. 5
    Resulting from ignorance; foolish; silly.

Etymology

From Old French ignorant, from Latin ignōrāns (“unaware, unknowing”). By surface analysis, ignore + -ant.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ginorant,iggnorant,ignnorant,ignoarnt,ignorannt,ignorantt,ignoratn,ignornat,ignorrant,ignroant,igonrant,ingorant

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for ignorant

Misspelling Variants of "ignorant"

ginorant8iggnorant9ignnorant9ignoarnt8ignorannt9ignorantt9ignoratn8ignornat8
Misspelling Variants of "ignorant"

Frequency rank: #6,581 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ignorant"?
"ignorant" is spelled I-G-N-O-R-A-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪɡnəɹənt/.
What does "ignorant" mean?
As an adj, "ignorant" means: Unknowledgeable or uneducated; characterized by ignorance.
What words are commonly confused with "ignorant"?
"ignorant" is commonly confused with "ignoring", "ignorance". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ignorant"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ignorant" is /ˈɪɡnəɹənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ignorant"?
From Old French ignorant, from Latin ignōrāns (“unaware, unknowing”). By surface analysis, ignore + -ant. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.