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Definition of "uninitiated" []

  • Not knowledgeable or skilled; inexperienced. (adjective)
  • An uninformed, unskilled, or inexperienced person or group of people. Often used with the: "What's the difference, the uninitiated may ask, between eggshell white and wedding gown white?” ( Wall Street Journal). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "uninitiated" in a sentence
  • "Twitter, for the uninitiated, is like being given an invitation to one of the ‘popular peoples parties’, you arriving alone and unsure and then wandering about desperate to fit in and not look like a loser."
  • "If these are layoffs that bodes ill (the difference for the uninitiated is that when you fire, you get rid of a person but not the position – when you lay off, you get rid of the position)."
  • "So, a post from today shows off someone's recent cutting, healing nicely ( "cutting" for the uninitiated is removing thin strips of the upper layers of skin in a pattern or design, leaving a scar as it heals)."