adv ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Adverb

1. 1
   In the manner of one who knows.

   "She smiled knowingly, but kept the secret."

2. 2
   With knowledge of all relevant facts.

   "She would never knowingly pour any pollutant down the drain."

Adverb

1. 1
   with full knowledge and deliberation wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

deliberatelyintentionallyon purposeadvisedlyartfullyastutely

Antonyms

All antonyms

surprise;accidentallyobliviously

Example

More examples

"Tom and Mary nod at each other knowingly."

Etymology

From Middle English knawyngly, knowyngly. By surface analysis, knowing + -ly.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.