nescience
noun
ne·science
ˈne-sh(ē-)ən(t)s 
ˈnē-
ˈnē-
-sē-ən(t)s
: lack of knowledge or awareness : ignorance
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Gain Some Knowledge of Nescience
Eighteenth-century British poet, essayist, and lexicographer Samuel Johnson once said, "There is nothing so minute or inconsiderable that I would not rather know it than not know it." He probably knew a thing or two about the history of the word nescience, which evolved from a combination of the Latin prefix ne-, meaning "not," and scire, a verb meaning "to know." And he may also have known that scire is an ancestor of science, a word whose original meaning in English was "knowledge."
Examples of nescience in a Sentence
the appalling nescience of today's high schoolers concerning international affairs
Recent Examples on the Web
But this time her nescience was justified.
—
Matthew Continetti, National Review, 18 Jan. 2025
Critics pounced on his gaffes questioning evolution and asserting that vegetation caused pollution, but, as with Trump, Reagan’s backers cared little about these blunders or his nescience over public affairs.
—Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2020
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Matthew Continetti, National Review, 18 Jan. 2025
Critics pounced on his gaffes questioning evolution and asserting that vegetation caused pollution, but, as with Trump, Reagan’s backers cared little about these blunders or his nescience over public affairs.
—Washington Post, 28 Aug. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Nescience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nescience. Accessed 17 Apr. 2025.
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