knowledgeable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of knowledgeable
Explanation
Someone who is knowledgeable is highly educated and well versed in a particular subject. Making it your life goal to become knowledgeable about naked mole rats might not win you the Nobel Prize, but it might be fun. It’s interesting to note the shift in meaning of the adjective knowledgeable from when it was first recorded in the 1600s and now. Originally, knowledgeable was spelled without the second -e, and meant “capable of being known, recognizable.” Now, though, we use the adjective to describe that which has or displays knowledge. If you're well-read and alert, you're knowledgeable about the ways of the world.
Vocabulary lists containing knowledgeable
Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
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Words to Describe a Teacher
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Employment, List 3
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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.
Word-of-mouth referrals from knowledgeable people are the way good doctors build their practices.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
“But there are areas where you can say no, it’s investing. You’re deeply knowledgeable, you’re taking the other side of a bet, and you think you know better than the other person.”
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
“There’s no question he’d be the most knowledgeable and committed climate advocate that’s ever held really high office in America,” climate activist and author Bill McKibben recently told Politico.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
“A lot of the data-acquisition strategies seem to be moving towards more specialist sources,” he said, pointing to those who are “extremely knowledgeable and have executed complex tasks in finance, healthcare, law, the sciences.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
But there was something familiar about that orange dragon, perhaps the way her scales reflected in the sun like fish scales glistening in the water, and those knowledgeable eyes, nodding as if she knew her.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
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.
