cognoscenti
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of cognoscenti
1770–80; < Italian, Latinized variant of conoscente (present participle of conoscere to know) < L. See cognition, -ent
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.
See Examples For:
Despite the beacon, only Hanoi’s cà phê cognoscenti seek out this snug shop furnished with four short tables and a small counter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
The curling cognoscenti reckon six wins in the nine round-robin games could be enough to earn a place in Monday's last four, and the GB duo are well on the way.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2026
Chief among the concerns of Disneyland’s cognoscenti will be the fate of the ride’s large number of audio-animatronic critters, many of which were rescued from the 1970s-era America Sings attraction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2023
In the 1730s, as Handel’s London audiences gradually broadened into the middle class from the aristocracy, they lost much of their interest in his Italian-language operas, which had thrilled the cognoscenti for years.
From New York Times ● Mar. 13, 2023
"Not a whole lot, Aaron," he said, but by the time he had finished his examination Aaron became convinced that his employer was indeed one of the cognoscenti.
From Abe and Mawruss Being Further Adventures of Potash and Perlmutter by Glass, Montague
But if you’re a pizza cognoscente, or even a bread baker, you’ll recognize that this tomato pie is the work of cooks who are punctilious about their dough.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
“For the past 35 years, I have been focused, singularly, on becoming a cognoscente, on knowing everything possible about the classical arts,” Munday said.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 27, 2019
Liz Goldwyn is, in fact, a film-world royal — her grandfather was the Hollywood kingpin Samuel Goldwyn — not to mention a fashion-world darling and an art-world cognoscente.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2014
Whether it's intuition or a great eye, her ability to connect with her buyer--generally a fashion cognoscente with a taste for understated glamour--appears to be unerring.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was one of those trim and proper creatures that seemed to haunt Wordsworth societies, welfare meetings, and other culture areas known only to the cognoscente and stern-eyed Eastern aunts.
From Bat Wing Bowles by Coolidge, Dane
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.
