knowing

American  

[noh-ing] / ˈnoʊ ɪŋ /

adjective

1. affecting, implying, or deliberately revealing shrewd knowledge of secret or private information.

   a knowing glance.

   Synonyms:

   perceptive, eloquent, significant, meaningful

2. that knows; know; having knowledge or information; intelligent.

3. shrewd, sharp, or astute.

4. conscious; intentional; deliberate.

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knowing British  

/ ˈnəʊɪŋ /

adjective

1. suggesting secret information or knowledge

2. wise, shrewd, or clever

3. deliberate; intentional

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noun

1. one cannot tell

Other Word Forms

• knowingly adverb
• knowingness noun

Etymology

Origin of knowing

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English knawynge (earlier knowende, knawande ); equivalent to know ¹ + -ing ²

Example Sentences

She has said she regrets ever knowing him.

From The Wall Street Journal

The players have had it up their tonsils with the fighting talk, knowing that only deeds and not words are going to get the job done, beginning in Rome on Saturday.

From BBC

The judge said Wright's delayed guilty plea meant that Victoria's mother, Lorinda, died in December "without knowing her daughter's killer had been finally brought to justice".

From BBC

"And don't you ever dare peek into it. Because I have ways of knowing if you do."

From Literature

Others, knowing Good had been a poet, wrote poems of their own:

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• insightful
• intelligent
• perceptive
• sophisticated