adj. 1. Possessing knowledge, information, or understanding: very knowing about transportation costs. 2. Showing clever awareness and resourcefulness; shrewd and worldly: "Even so knowing a young ruffian as William Chaloner would have had no preparation for the shock of London" (Thomas Levenson). 3. Suggestive of secret or private knowledge: a knowing glance. 4. Deliberate; conscious: a knowing attempt to defraud. 5. Archaic Fashionable; stylish: "Many young men ... drove about town in very knowing gigs" (Jane Austen). knowing·ly adv. knowing·ness n. |
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