Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A totally ignorant person; an ignoramus.
- n. An anti-intellectual.
- n. An agnostic.
- n. A member of a political party in the United States during the 1850s that was antagonistic toward recent immigrants and Roman Catholics.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. One destitute of knowledge; one who is ignorant, or who professes ignorance, of anything; an ignoramus.
- n. [capitalized] A member of the so-called American party (which see, under American). See also quotation.
- Very ignorant.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A member of a secret political organization in the United States, the chief objects of which were the proscription of foreigners by the repeal of the naturalization laws, and the exclusive choice of native Americans for office.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an ignorant person
Examples
“This is just reinforcing the stereotype that the California legislature and courts are know-nothing reactionaries that are way behind the times.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Nonrecognition of Foreign Libel Judgments
“Some know-nothing had fixed up a bad batch of plaster, which dried, separated into pieces the size of an Oreo, and finally succumbed to the forces of Newton.”
“Cause the only evidence I've seen of this is from that video of the action figures with the names pronounced by that know-nothing marketing lady.”
“The criticism from the rightwing is predictable and to be expected — they have declared opposition to Obama and the Dems, so no matter what anyone does or does not do, they will be roundly criticized by the know-nothing ideologues like Krauthammer and Kristol.”
“Then out of the blue, he picks a know-nothing Barbie Doll with absolutly no experience what-so-ever.”
Think Progress » VIDEO: The Extreme, Violent Rhetoric Of GOP Lawmakers
“It is so illustrative of the “know-nothing” reality deniers, we should thank “that one” who is illustrating this concept for us, see post #1 in this topic.”
“Good to see that the IQ level of the American public is on the rise and this buzzword-spewing know-nothing is falling out of popularity.”
Think Progress » Palin bars media from two upcoming Florida events.
“Jwest is typical of the modern-day know-nothing pride of the nouveaux Klansmen.”
“His record brims with positions that could quickly cool relations with New Delhi, most notably his know-nothing denunciations of outsourcing.”
“But they seem to be mindful of the remarkable know-nothing standard set for GOP candidates.”
The Huffington Post: Carl Pope: The Incredible Shrinking GOP Field
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