well-known
Americanadjective
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clearly or fully known.
The well-known reasons are obvious.
-
generally or widely known.
a well-known painting.
- Synonyms:
- celebrated, noted, famous, prominent
adjective
-
widely known; famous; celebrated
-
known fully or clearly
Etymology
Origin of well-known
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75
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.
He painted this one of the heiress to Hunt Wesson Foods and her husband, a zealous art fan, shortly after creating another well-known double portrait of Isherwood and Bachardy.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2026
The book is full of fascinating trivia, but Mr. Norman, though dependable with places and dates, is incapable of breathing life into the well-known.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
“She wasn’t someone who was well-known in the industry at the time, but he brought her in and she was an absolute superstar,” Mueller, now CEO of the startup Impulse Space, told MarketWatch over email.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 11, 2026
Researchers led by Suketu Patel put several leading AI models through a well-known psychology experiment called the Stroop task.
From Science Daily • Jun. 10, 2026
It struck me as unlikely that he’d win, given that Rush was well-known and Barack was still a virtual nobody.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
