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benightedness

[bih-nahy-tid]

adjective

intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened: benighted ages of barbarism and superstition.

overtaken by darkness or night.

Origin:
1565–75; benight (be- + night) + -ed²

Related forms

be·night·ed·ly, adverb

be·night·ed·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. backward, primitive, crude, uncultivated.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Benightedness is always a great word to know.

So is bezoar. Does it mean:

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

benighted (bɪˈnaɪtɪd)

—*adj*
1.	lacking cultural, moral, or intellectual enlightenment; ignorant
2.	archaic overtaken by night

be'nightedly

—*adv*

be'nightedness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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