y'know
UK/jəˈnəʊ//jəˈnoʊ/
y'know is the alternative form of you know.
Meaning of you know
Interjection
- 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
- 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...
- A: I can’t go to the party because... you know...
- 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?
- Synonyms:
- right, like, er, erm, um, you see, do you know what I'm saying, you know what I'm saying, eh, don't you know
- Used to introduce information.
- You know, he's actually pretty nice.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see you, know.
Words that rhyme with y'know
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
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.
