clueless

Clueless is an adjective used to describe a person or situation that lacks knowledge, understanding, or awareness about something. It can refer to being unaware of basic facts in a given context, or to a general state of ignorance about a topic. The term is informal and often carries a humorous or pejorative nuance. A person can be described as clueless about science, about how to fix a car, or about social norms.

The word is formed from the noun clue with the suffix -less, indicating absence. The phrase is widely used in English-speaking communities, especially in casual conversation. The degree of cluelessness can be modulated by adverbs such as totally, completely, or utterly. A related noun is cluelessness.

In popular culture, the term appears frequently, and the 1995 film Clueless, directed by Amy Heckerling, brought the concept to a broader audience; the title plays on the idea of naivety in a social setting. The word also appears in journalism, commentary, and online discourse to describe someone perceived as not understanding a topic, often in a lighthearted or sometimes scornful way.

Related terms include synonyms such as ignorant, unaware, oblivious, and uninformed, while antonyms include informed, knowledgeable, and aware.