愚昧无知 (yú mèi wú zhī) — ignorant and benighted; stupid and unenlightened

Definition

A formal, written idiom meaning deeply ignorant and unenlightened — stronger and more literary than everyday 不知道. Used to critique a state of mind, not a single fact.

idiom
ignorant and benightedstupid and unenlightened

Examples

  • ，愚昧无知。
    Zài xìn xī shí dài, yú mèi wú zhī de rén hěn róng yì bèi yáo yán qī piàn.
    In the information age, benighted people are easily deceived by rumors.
  • 愚昧无知。
    Tā nà zhǒng yú mèi wú zhī de tài dù ràng zhěng gè tuán duì wú fǎ jìn bù.
    His ignorant and foolish attitude prevented the whole team from making progress.
  • 愚昧无知。
    Zhè xiē luò hòu de xí sú fǎn yìng le cūn mín de yú mèi wú zhī.
    These backward customs reflect the villagers' ignorance and benightedness.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

愚昧ignorant
愚yústupid昧mèiblind
联合Side by side
无知ignorant
无wúnot have知zhīknowledge
动宾Verb + object

愚昧 and 无知 both mean lacking knowledge, together stressing ignorance.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
心心xīnheart
Sound part声符shēngfú
禺
禺yú愚yú
Same sound today

愚 pairs 心 (heart) with 禺 for the sound; the heart part relates to the sense of foolishness.

Open 愚 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
日日rìsun; day
Sound part声符shēngfú
未
未wèi昧mèi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape 昧 combines 日 (sun; day) with 未, which gives a clue to its sound.

Open 昧 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 無; 无 is its simplified writing.

For the simplified 无, the story is about 無. 無 drew a person dancing with ox tails held in both hands to pray for rain, then was borrowed for 'have no', so the picture does not explain that meaning.

Open 无 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →

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