knowing
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈnəʊɪŋ/
- (Northumbria) IPA(key): /naːɪn/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈnoʊɪŋ/
Audio (US): (file)
- Rhymes: -əʊɪŋ
Etymology 1
Etymology tree
Inherited from Middle English knowynge. By surface analysis, know + -ing.
Adjective
knowing (comparative more knowing, superlative most knowing)
- Possessing knowledge or understanding; knowledgeable, intelligent. [from 14th c.]
- 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
- The knowing and intelligent part of the world.
- Deliberate, wilful. [from 16th c.]
- Shrewd or showing clever awareness; discerning. [from 17th c.]
- a knowing rascal
- (archaic) Demonstrating knowledge of what is in fashion; stylish, chic. [from 18th c.]
- 1792, Charlotte Smith, Desmond, Broadview, published 2001, page 173:
- ‘I was a raw boy from College, and fancied it very knowing to marry a girl that all the young fellows of my acquaintance reckoned so confounded handsome.’
- 1857, [Thomas Hughes], Tom Brown’s School Days. […], Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC:
- Tom thought his cap a very knowing affair, but confessed that he had a hat in his hat-box; which was accordingly at once extracted from the hind-boot, and Tom equipped in his go-to-meeting roof, as his new friend called it.
- Suggestive of private knowledge or understanding. [from 19th c.]
- 2017 July 30, Ali Barthwell, “Ice and fire finally meet in a front-loaded episode of Game Of Thrones (newbies)”, in The Onion AV Club[1], archived from the original on 31 July 2017:
- Jon and Tyrion greet each other with the words that have been used against them as weapons, sharing a knowing smile.
- 2025 November 25, Caroline Siede, “Zootopia 2 is a stagnant sequel with one stellar subplot”, in AV Club[2], archived from the original on 5 October 2026:
- As family entertainment, it’s all perfectly fine. There are plenty of callbacks to the original to delight young fans (including a catchy new song from Shakira’s Gazelle) and plenty of knowing jokes for the adults in the audience.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
intelligent
|
shrewd
suggestive of private knowledge
deliberate
Preposition
knowing
- Given my knowledge about someone or something.
- Knowing you, you would try not to be late for school.
Verb
knowing
- present participle and gerund of know
Etymology 2
Etymology tree
Inherited from Middle English knowynge. By surface analysis, know + -ing.
Noun
knowing (plural knowings)
- The act or condition of having knowledge.
- 2009, Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind (60th Anniversary Edition, 1949, page 194)
- Sensations then, are not perceivings, observings or findings; they are not detectings, scannings or inspectings; they are not apprehendings, cognisings, intuitings or knowings.
- 2009, Gilbert Ryle, The Concept of Mind (60th Anniversary Edition, 1949, page 194)
Derived terms
Middle English
Noun
knowing
- alternative form of knowynge (“knowledge”)
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/əʊɪŋ
- Rhymes:English/əʊɪŋ/2 syllables
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵneh₃-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms suffixed with -ing (gerund noun)
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with archaic senses
- English prepositions
- English non-lemma forms
- English verb forms
- English terms suffixed with -ing (participial)
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- Middle English variant lemmas