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knowingness

American  
[noh-ing-nis] / ˈnoʊ ɪŋ nɪs /

noun

  1. the quality of being aware, intelligent, well-informed, or intentional; knowing quality.

  2. the quality of being shrewd, sharp, or astute, or of trying to seem so in a self-conscious way.


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:

“But I think that’s also where I built this armor that I have — this knowingness of why I do what I do. It’s how I have this grit to stick to it.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

It’s campy, it’s cheesy, it’s way more fun than you expect it to be, but there’s a knowingness to the whole endeavor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2025

In Casey, she could also practice the knowingness that makes her such a superb audience surrogate.

From New York Times ● Apr. 24, 2023

This knowingness is very maternal, and is cast over all of these characters like a blanket, or like signal fires themselves.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2022

And he shrank from the expression in the boy s eyes, from his knowingness.

From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill

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