Word.ws English Dictionary

knows better

knows better is the third-person singular simple present indicative of know better.

Meaning of know better

Verb

know better (third-person singular simple present knows better, present participle knowing better, simple past knew better, past participle known better)

  1. (set phrase) To recognize that a statement or belief is false or doubtful.
    • 'Do you think, sir,' said Mr Willet, […] 'do you think, sir, that I'm a born fool?'
      'No, no, Johnny,' returned Solomon, looking round upon the little circle of which he formed a part: 'We all know better than that.'1841 February–November, Charles Dickens, “Barnaby Rudge. Chapter 54.”, in Master Humphrey’s Clock, volume III, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC
  2. (set phrase) To understand that certain behavior is wrongful, futile, or inappropriate.
    • "All that happened when he was eight; he's older now and knows better."1919, H. H. Munro, “Hyacinth”, in The Toys of Peace and Other Papers
    Synonyms:
    know any better

Questions about knows better

What is knows better the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Knows better is the third-person singular simple present indicative of know better.

Words near knows better in the dictionary

  1. knows any better
  2. knows B from a battledore
  3. knows back to front
  4. knows ball
  5. knows beans about
  6. knows better
  7. knows every trick in the book
  8. knows fine well
  9. knows from a bar of soap
  10. knows full well
  11. knows how many beans make five

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: knows better (page history and authors); know better (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “knows better.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/knows_better. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.