know-all

American

[noh-awl] / ˈnoʊˌɔl /

noun

Informal.

a know-it-all.

know-all British

noun

informal a person who pretends or appears to know a great deal

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of know-all

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

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From BBC

Tobin was Tiffany’s manager, and an almost hilariously cliched one: a dominant, abrasive, controlling know-all.

From The Guardian

The book clearly recognizes what it is not: a read-all, know-all drag opus.

From Washington Post

‘I is not a very know-all giant myself, but it seems to me that you is an absolutely know-nothing human bean. Your brain is full of rotten-wool.’

From Literature

Briony had heard a know-all porter saying, with what sounded like satisfaction, that nothing now could stop the German army.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023