Uninitiated

In ways befitting an intellectual luminary, for Mr. Jackson was awarded the prestigious, $25 million MacArthur "genius" grant, he takes the conversation in a hundred directions, not all of which the uninitiated listener can follow.

Near-synonym: exoteric

His jargon-filled talk was gibberish to the uninitiated, but clear and concise to practitioners.

Even in the midst of the full swing of fancy, swayed to and fro by the many currants of thought that arise out of a single word, snatches of the verse from which the flight was taken will suddenly appear on the surface like a refrain or a keynote, showing that in reality there is a connexion, though hidden to the uninitiated.

To the uninitiated, the belief not merely in the influence of the dead, but in their actual presence during secret rites is, or has until lately been, very real, and in so far as the uninitiated are brought into relation with the societies will possess a religious character.

A quick guide for the uninitiated

Although the priests are the initiated, they remain ignorant and incapable of instructing the uninitiated in the proper method of painting the temples.