know-it-all

English

Alternative forms

• know-all (UK, Ireland, Commonwealth)

Etymology

Etymology tree

English know

English it

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.?

Proto-Indo-European *h₂elnós

Proto-Germanic *allaz

Proto-West Germanic *all

Old English eall

Middle English all

English all

English know-it-all

From know + it + all.

Pronunciation

• (Australia) IPA^(key): /ˈnəʉ.ɪt.oːl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

know-it-all (plural know-it-alls)

1. (chiefly US, derogatory) Someone who claims to be knowledgeable or an expert in something, obnoxiously dismissing the opinions, advice, suggestions, etc. of others.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:know-it-all

   We had it all figured out, but this know-it-all marched in with "the correct way of solving it", leaving our experiment in shambles.

   • 2004, Princeton Review, Know It All! Grades 9-12 Reading, The Princeton Review, →ISBN, page 22:

     The same holds true for supporting details—they help you to learn more about a topic. Be a know it all by sharing these details and supporting details with friends.

   • 2005, Pansie Hart Flood, Tiger Turcotte Takes on the Know-it-all, Carolrhoda Books, →ISBN:

     She's a mean, bossy know-it-all.

   • 2012, Joe Ike, How do I relate with a “know-it-all”?, xBusinessServices Corp., page 60:

     Have you ever gone shopping with a Know-It-All girlfriend and she insists, without your consent or consulting you first, to choose your outfits for you?

Derived terms

• know-it-allery
• know-it-allism

Translations

one who obnoxiously claims to be knowledgeable on a subject

• Antigua and Barbuda Creole English: kumkumsa
• Arabic: مُتَعَالِم (mutaʕālim)
• Armenian: ամենագետ (hy) (amenaget), ամենագիտակ (amenagitak)
• Asturian: sabichegu, sabicheru, sabelotoo, enteráu
• Azerbaijani: hərşeyşünas, ağıllıdıllaq
• Basque: sasijakintsu (eu), sasijakitun
• Bulgarian: всезнайко m (vseznajko)
• Catalan: setciències (ca), mestretites (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 萬事通 / 万事通 (zh) (wànshìtōng)

• Czech: vševěd m, rozumbrada (cs) m or f
• Danish: klogeåge (da) c, besserwisser c
• Dutch: betweter (nl) m, wijsneus (nl) m
• Finnish: kaikkitietävä (fi), besserwisser (fi)
• French: je-sais-tout (fr) m, ti-Jo Connaissant (fr) m (Quebec), toutologue (fr) m or f
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: wiisprater, wiisnoas

• Galician: sabichón m, sabichona f
• Georgian: ჭკუის კოლოფი (č̣ḳuis ḳolopi), ყოვლისმცოდნე (q̇ovlismcodne)
• German: Besserwisser (de) m, Besserwisserin (de) f, Neunmalkluger m, Neunmalkluge f, Rechthaber (de) m, Rechthaberin (de) f, Schulmeister (de) m, Schulmeisterin f, Klugscheißer (de) m, Klugscheißerin (de) f, Schlaumeier (de) m, Schlaumeierin (de) f, Schlauberger (de) m, Schlaubergerin (de) f
• Greek: ξερόλας (el) m (xerólas), ξερόλα f (xeróla)
• Indonesian: sok pintar (literally “pretentiously smart”), sok tau (literally “pretentiously smart”)
• Italian: sapientone, sa tutto, saputello (it) m, tuttologo (it) m, nientologo m
• Japanese: 知ったかぶりをする人 (ja) (しったかぶりをするひと, shittakaburi o suru hito) (no exact term exists, the term for the action is idiomatic)
• Macedonian: се́знајко m (séznajko)
• Malay: palatao (ms) (slang)
• Māori: whakaputa mōhio, ngutu huia
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bedreviter (no) m, viktigper m, forståsegpåer (no) m, besserwisser m

• Persian: علامه دهر ('allâme-ye dahr)
• Plautdietsch: Aulweet m
• Polish: przemądrzalec m, mądraliński (pl) m, mądrala (pl) m or f, chłopek-roztropek (pl) m, besserwisser (pl) m, zarozumialec (pl) m
• Portuguese: sabichão (pt) m, sabichona f, sabe-tudo m or f
• Russian: всезна́йка (ru) m or f (vseznájka), (also a famous protagonist) зна́йка (ru) m or f (znájka)
• Serbo-Croatian: sveznalica (sh) m or f, свезналица m or f
• Spanish: sabelotodo (es) m, sabiondo (es) m, todólogo m, cuñado (es) m, cerebruto m (Peru), sabidillo m
• Sranan Tongo: sabiso
• Swahili: mjuba
• Swedish: viktigpetter (sv), besserwisser (sv) c
• Tajik: маҳмаддоно (mahmaddono)
• Turkish: çok bilmiş (tr), herbokolog (literally “fucking everything-ologist”)
• Ukrainian: всезна́йко m (vseznájko)
• Uzbek: mahmadona (uz)
• Welsh: hollwybodusyn m

See also

• ultracrepidarian