Word.ws English Dictionary

know-nothingness

know-nothingness noun: the state of knowing nothing; ignorance.

Noun

know-nothingness (uncountable)

  1. The state of knowing nothing; ignorance.
    • Anxious, as if I knew even then in my infant know-nothingness that my life would be torn apart by people who I'm sure meant nothing by it but were instead pursuing their own lives and their own hearts and dreams and beliefs and aspirations and horizons, much like I would and am, yet somehow I am...2003, Courtney X, Lasting Visions of X--The Haunted Artist, →ISBN, page 172
    • More particularly agnosticism is an attitude of “know-nothingness”.2008, Mathew Chandrankunnel, Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics, →ISBN, page 822
  2. A perverse admiration or embrace of ignorance.
    • There was a growing spirit of "Know-nothingness" and avoidance of foreign things in the town and the German community was, at the same time, growing stronger in its determination to protect its own rights.1989, Missouri Folklore Society Journal - Volumes 11-12, page 66
    • Know-nothingness is this time's prime feature: a new know-nothingness, a greater know-nothingness, even a new order, even neo-fascism.1991, Josef Albers, Josef Albers: La Fundación Chinati/The Chinati Foundation

Examples of know-nothingness in a sentence

  • Anxiety is a state of emotional know-nothingness in which the individual succumbs to helplessness.2012, Peter R. Breggin, Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal:
  • The new know-nothingness presents itself as a perverse reversal of Bacon's notorious declaration, “knowledge is power.”2002, Robert C. Solomon, Spirituality for the Skeptic: The Thoughtful Love of Life, →ISBN, page 66:

Forms of know-nothingness

alternative formknownothingness

Origin of know-nothingness

From know-nothing + -ness.

Questions about know-nothingness

What does know-nothingness mean?
Know-nothingness means the state of knowing nothing; ignorance.
How do you use know-nothingness in a sentence?
Anxiety is a state of emotional know-nothingness in which the individual succumbs to helplessness.
What part of speech is know-nothingness?
Know-nothingness is a noun.

Words near know-nothingness in the dictionary

  1. know-it-allery
  2. know-it-allism
  3. know-it-alls
  4. know-nothing
  5. Know-Nothingism
  6. know-nothingness
  7. know-nothings
  8. knowabilities
  9. knowability
  10. knowable
  11. knowableness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: know-nothingness (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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