Standard Lemma guide

unlearned

adj · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ʌnˈlɜːnɪd/
  • US: /ʌnˈlɝnɪd/
  • UK: /ʌnˈlɜːnd/
  • US: /ʌnˈlɝnd/

1

adj

Meaning 1

ignorant, uneducated, untaught, untrained.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: benighted, cimmerian, clueless, foolish, ignorant, ill-informed, illiterate, innocent, lack-learning, lay, lewd, loreless, nescient, oblivious, philistine, tenebrose, unaware, uncultivated, uncultured, uneducated, unenlightened, unerudite, uninformed, unknowing, unknowledgeable, unlearned, unlearnt, unlettered, unmindful, unread, unscholarly, unschooled, untaught, untrained, untutored, unwitting

Antonyms: learned

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of a behavior: not learned; innate.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inborn, inherent, connate, connatural, congenital, congenite, genetous, inbred, indigenous, ingenite, innate, native, natural, to the manner born, unlearned, unlearnt

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Of information: that has not (yet) been learned; unknown.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

verb

Meaning 4

simple past and past participle of unlearn (“discard the knowledge of”)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, participle, past

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

not established by conditioning or learning

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an unconditioned reflex

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: unconditioned, innate

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

uneducated in general; lacking knowledge or sophistication

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an ignorant man
  • nescient of contemporary literature
  • an unlearned group incapable of understanding complex issues
  • exhibiting contempt for his unlettered companions

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ignorant, nescient, unlettered

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

not well learned

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English unlerned (“not taught, uneducated”). By surface analysis, un- (“not”) + learned (“educated”).

From un- (“not”) + learned (“studied”), past participle of learn.

From Middle English unlernyd (“obliterated from memory, forgotten”), equivalent to unlearn + -ed.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: oppimaton — uneducated
  • French: inérudit — uneducated
  • French: illettré — uneducated
  • French: inculte — uneducated
  • French: ignorant — uneducated
  • Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (unweis) — uneducated
  • Ancient Greek: ἀπαίδευτος (apaídeutos) — uneducated
  • Ancient Greek: ἀγράμματος (agrámmatos) — uneducated
  • Hungarian: tanulatlan — uneducated
  • Latin: illitterātus — uneducated
  • Latin: indoctus — uneducated
  • Latin: inērudītus — uneducated
  • Finnish: kömpelö — of behavior, innate