knowingness

American  

[noh-ing-nis] / ˈnoʊ ɪŋ nɪs /

noun

1. the quality of being aware, intelligent, well-informed, or intentional; knowing quality.

2. the quality of being shrewd, sharp, or astute, or of trying to seem so in a self-conscious way.

---

Example Sentences

It’s campy, it’s cheesy, it’s way more fun than you expect it to be, but there’s a knowingness to the whole endeavor.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025

That participatory knowingness is imbued into the cinematography itself, executed by Paul Faltz on 35mm with a look that alternates between shadowy fear and gauzy fantasy.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 9, 2024

But my favorite member of the entourage is Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who brings a knowingness and a killer sense of comic timing to the role of Destiny, one of Jocelyn’s managers.

From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2023

This knowingness is very maternal, and is cast over all of these characters like a blanket, or like signal fires themselves.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 8, 2022

And then I remember that I did the flishing last night and the sprinkling over all the heads the knowingness of the hungry childrens.

From "The Unfinished Angel" by Sharon Creech