Connotatively neutral alternatives to "ignorant"?

The word "ignorant" has a denotative meaning along the lines of "to lack knowledge" or "to not know", but its connotative meaning, by my understanding, is negative. Are there any synonyms of this word that have a more neutral connotation?

The stack exchange question here suggests that "uninformed" might be suitable for this purpose, but there seems to be a split consensus on that word's connotation; some see that word as connotatively negative as well. Historically, I myself have used the phrase "to not know" as a safe alternative, since it isn't my wish to stigmatize others for lacking knowledge; however, this substitute is slightly verbose. Are there other possibilities?

Solution 1:

"Unaware" might work in some contexts. :-)

Solution 2:

It would largely depend upon your usage need.

For instance:

Less educated, if you wish to imply that they were not of lower intelligence, but rather lacked a formal instruction.

Unaware or uninformed, if you wish to imply that the person simply was not informed of the situation at hand.

Naive, if they even lack a frame of reference by which to actually understand.