knowledgeable
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of knowledgeable
Explanation
Someone who is knowledgeable is highly educated and well versed in a particular subject. Making it your life goal to become knowledgeable about naked mole rats might not win you the Nobel Prize, but it might be fun. It’s interesting to note the shift in meaning of the adjective knowledgeable from when it was first recorded in the 1600s and now. Originally, knowledgeable was spelled without the second -e, and meant “capable of being known, recognizable.” Now, though, we use the adjective to describe that which has or displays knowledge. If you're well-read and alert, you're knowledgeable about the ways of the world.
Vocabulary lists containing knowledgeable
Words to Describe Yourself on a Resume
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Words to Describe a Teacher
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Employment, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But a knowledgeable tax preparer can help manage expectations.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
"It's a very loud audience, enthusiastic audience, critical audience, knowledgeable audience," Bradley said.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
“That sentiment is applicable only to do-it-yourself investors who are intimately knowledgeable about how crypto functions,” Edelman says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 7, 2026
“There’s no question he’d be the most knowledgeable and committed climate advocate that’s ever held really high office in America,” climate activist and author Bill McKibben recently told Politico.
From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026
This table is sure to horrify any knowledgeable scholar, because it reduces exceedingly complex histories to a few seemingly precise dates.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
