- present participle of know.
knowing
Americanadjective
-
affecting, implying, or deliberately revealing shrewd knowledge of secret or private information.
a knowing glance.
- Synonyms:
- perceptive, eloquent, significant, meaningful
-
shrewd, sharp, or astute.
-
conscious; intentional; deliberate.
adjective
-
suggesting secret information or knowledge
-
wise, shrewd, or clever
-
deliberate; intentional
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of knowing
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English knawynge (earlier knowende, knawande ); equivalent to know 1 + -ing 2
Explanation
Something that's knowing is sneakily wise or perceptive. A knowing smile conveys a lot of information — it implies that you know a secret or are in on some background information. Picture Mona Lisa. A knowing glance tells its recipient that you've got them figured out or that you're aware of something they haven't shared with many people. You can use this adjective to simply mean "having knowledge" or "intentional" too, as when someone makes a knowing purchase of stolen goods. The noun version of knowing is also simple, meaning "the state of having knowledge or being aware."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Knowing Apple’s sticky customer base, they’ll have just one option.
From Barron's • Jun. 10, 2026
Knowing what you want is probably why you’re interested in LTC insurance in your 50s, when many other people think more about their mortality than what happens when they age and get sick.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 1, 2026
Knowing that the philosophy that was coming out of Edinburgh in the 1700s was directly feeding into what these guys were doing, it felt like the continuation of a certain strain of Scottish history.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Knowing this, Nigel Farage's party is feeling bullish about its by-election prospects.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
Knowing that Cluny was smarter than either of them, she wished she didn’t have this big dumb rat to corroborate the story.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
