Term for a person with absolutely zero knowledge of a topic

I'm looking for a term to describe someone who literally has zero knowledge of a topic. Initially I thought of using something like green field but that doesn't really describe the person, it really describes a situation.

The context of this is for providing training.

• {what goes here?}
• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Expert

Solution 1:

If you're looking for an informal word, consider newcomer. Merriam-Webster has:

newcomer(n): a person who has recently arrived somewhere or who has recently started a new activity

If you want something a little more formal and with perhaps a religious flavour, you can use neophyte:

neophyte(n): a person who has just started learning or doing something

Solution 2:

For a brand new beginning-beginner, I would use the term "novice".

Solution 3:

In the context you provide – a training course – I would go with this:

• Uninformed
• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Expert

These are students and teachers who will read this. Many of the terms provided in other answers (e.g., "ignorant", "virgin") may meet the requirement for the definition, but are inappropriate in terms of context.

"Uninformed", in this particular context, strikes me as non-judgmental.

"Newcomer" is also very good (but already provided by @Sawbones).

Also, just fyi...

Then comes "Basic" or "Novice".

So it's common to see this:

• Beginner
• Novice (or Basic)
• Intermediate
• Expert (or Advanced)

You can find plenty of examples online. In my quick review, the one thing they all had in common was "Beginner" came first (and was synonymous with "uninformed", "newcomer", "entry level", etc).

Solution 4:

In the context you mentioned in your OP. I would say:

Entry-level

There are other contexts as well.

greenhorns

In construction type jobs, people who are new to the profession

freshmen

In academia

rookies

In the police force

Other words worth mentioning are:

• naif
• green
• amateur
• inexperienced
• ignorant