dunno
Americancontraction
Etymology
Origin of dunno
First recorded in 1835–45; a phonetic spelling representing the pronunciation of don't know in continuous rapid speech
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.
When you are really able to anchor yourself in a way that I feel sometimes now, I dunno, I feel like the world just kind of catches up with you when you least expect it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2024
The rest of the world either didn’t participate or spent its social currency on Facebook or Instagram or, I dunno, kickball for grown-ups.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2023
“Ah dunno, ’cept yuh never mentioned it befo’, ” Georgia replies.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023
And in that purely profit-minded regard— and I'm pretty clear about this in the book—I dunno.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2021
Hagrid, who had been weeping silently into his large, spotted handkerchief throughout this conversation, now raised puffy red eyes and croaked, “I dunno, Professor...that’s fer the Heads of House an’ the headmistress ter decide...”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
