Basic Details
Word: Ignorance
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Lack of knowledge or information about something.
Synonyms: unawareness, inexperience, unfamiliarity
Antonyms: knowledge, awareness, wisdom
How to Spell Ignorance
Syllables: ig - no - rance
Tricky part: The ending is -ance, not -ence, and the r is single. The e at the end of ignore is dropped before -ance is added.
Watch out for: ignorence, ignorrance, igorance
Memory tip: Start from ignore, drop its e and add -ance, the same way endure becomes endurance. If you can spell ignore, you already have the first five letters, ignor.
Idioms and Phrases
- ignorance is bliss: it can be easier not to know about something unpleasant Example: "I did not check my marks before the holiday; ignorance is bliss."
Usage Examples
Example 1: Many accidents on the highway happen out of ignorance of simple safety rules.
Example 2: Rohan admitted his ignorance of chess and asked his sister to teach him the moves.
Example 3: The old superstition about eclipses grew out of ignorance, not wickedness.
Fun Fact
Courts follow an old Latin rule, ignorantia juris non excusat: not knowing that a law exists is no excuse for breaking it.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The villagers' ignorence about the new vaccine was cleared up by a health worker who visited every home.
a) vaccine
b) villagers'
c) ignorence
d) worker
Show answer
c) ignorence. Ignorance takes -ance, just like its adjective ignorant takes -ant.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word ignorance as used in the sentence:
His ignorance of basic road rules made his father refuse to hand him the scooter keys.
a) knowledge
b) unawareness
c) carelessness
d) stupidity
Show answer
a) knowledge. Ignorance is not knowing, so its opposite is knowledge; unawareness means much the same as ignorance.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
Pride often hides a deep rangoince of how other people live.
a) ignorant
b) ignorance
c) resonance
d) arrogance
Show answer
b) ignorance. The jumble has an i and a g but no t, so it cannot be ignorant, and arrogance would need two r's.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A person who acts out of ignorance is someone who ____.
a) knows the facts but lies
b) does not know the facts
c) is too tired to think
d) refuses to help others
Show answer
b) does not know the facts
2. Pick the sentence where ignorance is used correctly.
a) We bought a new ignorance for the kitchen.
b) His ignorance of the rules cost the team a penalty.
c) Her ignorance of the topic won her the quiz prize.
d) The ignorance of the fan kept the room cool.
Show answer
b) His ignorance of the rules cost the team a penalty.
