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know better

Idioms

Be able to recognize something as wrong or not possible, as in Mary should know better than to leave her child alone in the house, or Try to get in without a ticket? You know better than that. [c. 1700]

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.

In talking with them, I realize that a true friend would know better than to act the way I did and for that I need to be a better friend.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

But when I apologized by admitting it was my first real investment and I simply didn’t know better, the tension defused.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Some traders have massive egos and think they know better than the market.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 28, 2026

"But now in this day and age, when I feel like the world and people should know better, it is beyond disappointing and sometimes I feel like we feel so hopeless," she says.

From BBC • Nov. 17, 2025

But I still know better than to make him mad.

From "A Good Kind of Trouble" by Lisa Moore Ramée

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