Informed

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈfɔɹmd/

Definitions

1. Possessing knowledge about a topic implies being educated and aware of relevant details while also being up-to-date on current events or situations
2. Having received or possessing significant knowledge about a particular subject or situation
3. Being familiar with facts, details, or circumstances that allow for understanding or decision making

Etymology: "Informed" looks like a past participle of "inform," but as an adjective it has taken on a life of its own. Its core sense, "well informed," rests on the verb's older meaning "to give form to" or "to shape," from Latin "informare," which combined "in-" with "formare" (to form). Over time that shaping sense gave way to the idea of imparting knowledge, so to inform someone was to put facts into their mind, and an informed person was one whose mind had been shaped with knowledge. The adjective is also tangled up with a second, opposite meaning. The word "uninformed" is the everyday negative, but the older English usage of "informed" itself could mean "without form" or "shapeless," reflecting the "in-" prefix of negation. That sense has largely faded, and today the word almost always means knowledgeable or well-briefed, as in an "informed decision."

Synonyms: knowledgeable, aware, educated

Antonyms: uninformed, ignorant, unaware