Word.ws English Dictionary

y'know

UK/jəˈnəʊ//jəˈnoʊ/

y'know is the alternative form of you know.

Meaning of you know

Interjection

  1. (informal) Expression signifying a pause or hesitation.
    • I don’t usually get nervous in games and, you know, taking free kicks and penalties but that’s the first time I’ve been that nervous in, in a game, where I have to, I’m in a situation where I’m, you know […]2002 December 15, “Interview with David Beckham”, in Breakfast with Frost, spoken by David Beckham, via BBC
  2. (informal) Expression used to imply meaning, rather than say it, such as when a person is embarrassed.
    • A: I can’t go to the party because... you know...
      B: Your mom is still mad at you, huh?
      A: Yeah...
  3. (informal) Used as a rhetorical question to confirm agreement, knowing or understanding at the end of a statement.
    • But I guess that's life, you know?
  4. (informal) Used to introduce information.
    • You know, he's actually pretty nice.
  5. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see you, know.

Words that rhyme with y'know

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about y'know

What is y'know the alternative form of?
Y'know is the alternative form of you know.
How do you pronounce y'know?
Y'know is pronounced /jəˈnəʊ/ (UK).

Words near y'know in the dictionary

  1. y'day
  2. y'ere
  3. y'ever
  4. y'hear
  5. y'knew
  6. y'know
  7. y'no
  8. y's
  9. y'see
  10. y'self
  11. y-

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: y'know (page history and authors); you know (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-y'know.ogg.

Cite this entry: “y'know.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/y%27know. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.