different between benighted vs fatuity

English

Etymology

From benight +? -ed.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b??na?t?d/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /b??na?t?d/, /b?-/, [-??d]
• Homophone: beknighted
• Hyphenation: be?night?ed

Adjective

benighted (comparative more benighted, superlative most benighted)

1. (obsolete or poetic) Overtaken by night; especially of a traveller, etc.: caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination.
2. (obsolete) Plunged into darkness.
3. (figuratively) Lacking education or knowledge; unenlightened; also, lacking morality; immoral, unscrupulous.

   Antonym: unbenighted
4. (figuratively, obsolete) Difficult to understand; abstruse, obscure.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with beknighted (“made a knight”).

Derived terms

• benightedly
• benightedness
• unbenighted

Translations

Verb

benighted

1. simple past tense and past participle of benight

References

Anagrams

• benedight, get behind

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French fatuité.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /f??tju??ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??tu??ti/, [f??tu?.?.?i]

Noun

fatuity (countable and uncountable, plural fatuities)

1. Weakness or imbecility of mind; stupidity.
2. Something fatuous; a stupid idea or utterance.

Related terms

• fatuous

Translations

References

• fatuity in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• fatuity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.