Caught or overtaken by darkness; in a state of darkness, ignorance, or lack of understanding; morally or intellectually in darkness.
The past tense/adjective form of benight. Used since the 16th century, it evolved from describing literal darkness to describing intellectual or moral ignorance, particularly in 18th-19th century literature.
Benighted became famous in British colonial writing to describe people as 'intellectually benighted'—which reveals how language was used to justify thinking some people were in darkness and needed 'civilizing,' making this word a fossil record of outdated and harmful ideas.
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