Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

ignoramus

/ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.33 in modern English

Syllables: ig-no-ra-mus
IPA: /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/

12

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

noun

A grand jury's ruling on an indictment when the evidence is determined to be insufficient to send the case to trial.

Dated

verb

To make such a ruling against (an indictment).

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"The problem is that visual ignoramuses, such as this writer, can't think of that many pictures and end up drawing question marks where a frog should be."
"“The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me,” he said on “This Week,” the ABC News program."
"“I am sorry to say your History teacher is an ignoramus! She can’t even spell ‘Bayeux’!”"

Etymology

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 (“to not know, to be unacquainted with, to be ignorant of”).

Word Breakdown

Root: *ǵneh₃-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/
British English: /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/

Usage

Subject

Wiktionary places this term in Law.

Inflected Forms

ignoramuses (plural) ignorami (hypercorrect, plural) ignoramous (alternative, nonstandard) ignoramuses (present, singular) ignoramusing (participle, present) ignoramused (participle, past) ignoramused (past)

Derived Forms

ignoranus

Frequently Paired Words

charlatan dabbler dilettante smatterer wiseacre ignorant beginner bumpkin

Synonyms

dunce ignoramus jay know-nothing lack-latin mumpsimus nescient numskull rube wild-ass

Antonyms

genius scholar

Rhymes With

famous amos seamus squamous shamus ramus mandamus world-famous hamous

Questions

How do you pronounce ignoramus?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/.
What does ignoramus mean?: A totally ignorant person—unknowledgeable, uneducated, or uninformed; a fool.
Where does ignoramus come from?: 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 (“to not know, to be unacquainted with, to be ignorant of”).

How to pronounce ignoramus

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “ignoramus”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “ignoramus”.
Repeat and practice — Say “ignoramus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.