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• don't-know
  don't-know

  noun

  a person who has no opinion or is undecided, as in answering an item on a public-opinion poll.
• don't know
  don't know

  noun

  a person who has not reached a definite opinion on a subject, esp as a response to a questionnaire

don't-know

American  

[dohnt-noh] / ˈdoʊntˈnoʊ /

noun

1. a person who has no opinion or is undecided, as in answering an item on a public-opinion poll.

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don't know British  

noun

1. a person who has not reached a definite opinion on a subject, esp as a response to a questionnaire

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Etymology

Origin of don't-know

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

don't know

Asked why the factory was not ready, given he had been there since 2023, he says, effectively, you only know what you don't know when you discover it.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

“When they try to go and recertify, they don’t know what they need, so it’s like jumping through hoops,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026

“I don’t know whether he’s going to find a magic formula because it’s unclear if there is a magic formula,” Pozner said of Deno.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

“I don’t know all the details or even how real this is, but if it does happen, I think it’s hard to justify for Nvidia,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026

I don’t know how to tell him what he did, either.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse