know
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
nohIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈnoʊ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
“I know that the President lied to the people.”
transitive
To perceive the truth or factuality of; to be certain of; to be certain that.
intransitive
To be or become aware or cognizant.
Perceive as familiar
Be aware of the truth of something; have a belief or faith in something; regard as true beyond any doubt
Have firsthand knowledge of states, situations, emotions, or sensations
noun
A small hill; a knoll.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
Used this way, know is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“I know that the President lied to the people.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “know that …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Nearby words
- cognize , rarer, so it draws attention
Natural pattern: know that …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use know
- “I know that the President lied to the people.”verb
- “The child knows right from wrong.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Apprehended with certainty.
A clear and certain mental apprehension.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Be well-informed.
Be well-informed.
Be well-informed.
Recognize or perceive the difference.
Assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to.
Someone who thinks he knows everything and refuses to accept advice or information from others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: be cognizant or aware of a fact
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.