Definition of "benighted" in English

adjective

1. (obsolete or poetic) Overtaken by night; especially of a traveller, etc.: caught out by oncoming night before reaching one's destination.

   • I recollect well losing the goodwill of my old grandmother by allowing a benighted wagoner to light his lantern while her back was turned, […]

2. (obsolete) Plunged into darkness.

3. (figuratively) Lacking education or knowledge; unenlightened; also, lacking morality; immoral, unscrupulous.

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

verb

1. simple past and past participle of benight