Meanings
learned1
comparative more learned · superlative most learned · alternative learnèd · alternative learnéd
- Having much learning, knowledgeable, erudite; highly educated.
My learned Brother Cresswell directed the jury to make the calculation […]
1854, Charles Edward Pollock, Lake v. Plaxton, 156 Eng. Rep. 412 (Exch.) 414; 10 Ex. 199, 200 (Eng.)4 more examples
the learned Merlin, well could tell, / Vnder what coast of heauen the man did dwell […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLCThe book opens with the Time Traveler dining with learned peers in late 1800s England, where he is trying to convince them that he has invented a time machine.
2011 Feb, Jess Lourey, “A Pyramid Approach to Novel Writing”, in Writer, volume 124, number 2, pages 30–32HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW used to be both the best-known poet in the English-speaking world and the most beloved, adored by the learned and the lowly ...
2011 Spring, Jill Lepore, “How Longfellow Woke the Dead”, in American Scholar, volume 80, number 2, pages 33–46Learned both in the literatures of the Ancient Near East and in IE Studies, West wrote two compendia of parallels between Greek and other literatures.
2025 December 12, Tom Hercules Davies, “Horses, Wheels, Languages: Greek, Mesopotamian and Indic Epic on the Eurasian Steppe”, in The Classical Quarterly, volume 75, number 1, page 6Synonyms: brainy, erudite, knowledgeable, scholarly, educated · Antonyms: unlearned, ignorant, stupid, thick, uneducated, benighted, cimmerian, clueless
- formallawA courteous description used in various ways to refer to lawyers or judges.
- Scholarly, exhibiting scholarship.
But our limits will not permit us to discuss the many important and curious questions respecting the science of government, to which this learned work invites attention.
1831 March, anonymous author, “The History of the Doric Race”, in The Edinburgh Review, volume LIII, number CV (book review), page 130
learned2
alternative learnt
- CanadaEnglishNew ZealandUSdialectalparticiplepastsimple past and past participle of learn
comparative more learned · superlative most learned · alternative learnt
- Derived from experience; acquired by learning.
Everyday behavior is an overlay of learned behavior over instinct.
Antonyms: unlearned
Learned3
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving much learning, knowledgeable, erudite; highly educated.
adjectiveDerived from experience; acquired by learning.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehighly educated; having extensive information or understanding
adjectiveestablished by conditioning or learning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
learned · adjective
- Old English(ġe)lǣred
- Middle Englishlerned
- Englishlearned
From Middle English lerned, lernd, lernyd, equivalent to learn + -ed, which replaced the earlier lered (“taught”), from Old English (ġe)lǣred, past participle of lǣran (“to teach”). Learn formerly had the meaning “to teach”, which is now found only in nonstandard speech, as well as its standard meaning of “to learn”.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian учен
- учен (učen)having much learning
Chinese Mandarin 博學 /博学, 有學問 /有学问
- 博學 /博学 (bóxué)having much learning
- 有學問 /有学问 (yǒu xuéwèn)having much learning
Czech učený, naučený
- učenýhaving much learning
- naučenýacquired by learning
Dutch geleerd, geleerd
- geleerdhaving much learning
- geleerdacquired by learning
- aangeleerdacquired by learning
Esperanto klera
- klerahaving much learning
Finnish oppinut, opittu
- oppinuthaving much learning
- opittuacquired by learning
French érudit, savant
- érudithaving much learning
- savanthaving much learning
- instruithaving much learning
- apprisacquired by learning
German gelehrt, gebildet
- gelehrthaving much learning
- gebildethaving much learning
- studierthaving much learning
- gelehrsamhaving much learning
- qualifizierthaving much learning
- fachkundighaving much learning
- fundierthaving much learning
- akademischhaving much learning
- belehrthaving much learning
- angelerntacquired by learning
- erlerntacquired by learning
- gelerntacquired by learning
- angeeignetacquired by learning
- erfahrenacquired by learning
Greek λόγιος, πολυμαθής
- λόγιος (lógios)having much learning
- πολυμαθής (polymathís)having much learning
- εγγράμματος (engrámmatos)having much learning
Hungarian tanult, művelt
- tanulthaving much learning
- művelthaving much learning
- tudóshaving much learning
- tanultacquired by learning
Irish léannta
- léanntahaving much learning
Italian colto, dotto
- coltohaving much learning
- dottohaving much learning
- istruitohaving much learning
- eruditohaving much learning
- letteratohaving much learning
Korean 박식한
- 박식한 (baksikhan)having much learning
Latin doctus, ērudītus
- doctushaving much learning
- ērudītushaving much learning
- litterātushaving much learning
Norwegian Bokmål lærd
- lærdhaving much learning
Polish uczony
- uczonyhaving much learning
Portuguese douto, erudito
- doutohaving much learning
- eruditohaving much learning
- instruídohaving much learning
- sábiohaving much learning
- cultohaving much learning
Romanian învățat, erudit
- învățathaving much learning
- erudithaving much learning
Russian учёный, эруди́рованный
- учёный (učónyj)having much learning
- эруди́рованный (erudírovannyj)having much learning
- нау́чный (naúčnyj)acquired by learning
Scottish Gaelic ionnsaichte, foghlaimte
- ionnsaichtehaving much learning
- foghlaimtehaving much learning
- iùlmhorhaving much learning
- sgoilearachhaving much learning
- fiosrachhaving much learning
Slovak učený
- učenýhaving much learning
Spanish docto, letrado
- doctohaving much learning
- letradohaving much learning
- ilustradohaving much learning
- instruidohaving much learning
Swedish bildad, beläst
- bildadhaving much learning
- belästhaving much learning
- kultiveradhaving much learning
- lärdhaving much learning
Turkish öğrenilmiş
- öğrenilmişacquired by learning
Ukrainian вче́ний, уче́ний
- вче́ний (včényj)having much learning
- уче́ний (učényj)having much learning
Yiddish לומדיש
- לומדיש (lomdish)having much learning
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with learned
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
learned. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/learned
“learned.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/learned. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “learned,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/learned.
Source: learned on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.