(ig.nor.AY.nus)
n.
A person who is both stupid and extremely rude or obnoxious.
Example Citation:
Stuart Bradbury would like us to start a campaign to dob in drivers without buses who insist on using the bus lane: "Ignoranus (n) This new word was defined some months ago...as someone who is both ignorant and an asshole. A suitable description, I believe, for those who drive in the green bus lane in peak hour.
— "Sideswipe," The New Zealand Herald, December 4, 2002
Earliest Citation:
The Omnipotent One has an infinity of ways to make everyday life that little bit more unpleasant. And lo, He provideth us with people who put dead matches back in the box.
With hotel beds so tightly made that your feet are trapped by the blankets in the quarter-past-nine position. With the ignoranus (no, it is not a misspelling, it is my neologism for someone who is both stupid and an arsehole) on the train who cannot tell the difference between a mobile phone and a megaphone.
— Victor Lewis-Smith, "Dying, but in the best of health," The Evening Standard (London), September 16, 1999
Related Words:
Category:
New words. 2013.