benightedness
State of profound ignorance
Benightedness is the state of being intellectually or morally in the dark—ignorant, unenlightened, or backward.
The word carries a tone of condescension, implying someone hasn't yet seen the light of reason or progress: The benightedness of that era's medical practices is shocking by today's standards.
It's the noun form of benighted, which literally meant overtaken by nightfall.
Lacking necessary knowledge
- uneducatedLacking formal instruction
- illiteracyInability to read
- unlearnedLacking acquired knowledge
- unschooledLacking formal instruction
untutored · nescience · unknowing · unenlightened · misinformed · uninstructed · uninitiated · oblivious
State of being unknown
- dimnessInsufficient illumination
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- murkinessDimness, lack of clarity
- shadowsDark areas from blocked light
unilluminated · lightlessness · twilight · blindness · unseeing · shrouded · veiled · eclipsed
Inadequate economic or social progress
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- regressionReturn to former state
- retrogressionMovement to earlier state
- primitivenessUndeveloped, basic quality
antiquated · archaic · outdated · provincial · parochial · insular · narrow-minded · reactionary
Uncritical acceptance of claims
- gullibilityEase of being deceived
- irrationalityAbsence of logic
- witchcraftPractice of supernatural magic
- sorceryPractice of dark magic
occultism · mysticism · fortune-telling · astrology · divination · charlatanism · quackery · pseudoscience
uninformed
Lacking necessary knowledge
- uneducatedLacking formal instruction
- illiteracyInability to read
- unlearnedLacking acquired knowledge
unschooled · untutored · nescience · unknowing · unenlightened · misinformed · uninstructed · uninitiated · oblivious · clueless
obscurity
State of being unknown
- dimnessInsufficient illumination
- gloomPervasive dimness or dejection
- murkinessDimness, lack of clarity
shadows · unilluminated · lightlessness · twilight · blindness · unseeing · shrouded · veiled · eclipsed · tenebrous
underdevelopment
Inadequate economic or social progress
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- regressionReturn to former state
- retrogressionMovement to earlier state
primitiveness · antiquated · archaic · outdated · provincial · parochial · insular · narrow-minded · reactionary · hidebound
credulity
Uncritical acceptance of claims
- gullibilityEase of being deceived
- irrationalityAbsence of logic
- witchcraftPractice of supernatural magic
sorcery · occultism · mysticism · fortune-telling · astrology · divination · charlatanism · quackery · pseudoscience · supernaturalism
benightednessenlightenment
Profound spiritual awakening
knowledge · education · wisdom · understanding · illumination
benightednessenlightenment
Profound spiritual awakening
civilization · sophistication · refinement · cultivation · progressiveness