What does "self-knowledge" mean?

Knowledge or insight into one's own character, abilities, feelings, or motivations; self-understanding.

What is a synonym for "self-knowledge"?

Common synonyms include: acquaintance, autognosis, corpus, data, datum, experience.

Pronounced //ˌsɛlfˈnɒl.ɪdʒ//.

//ˌsɛlfˈnɒl.ɪdʒ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Knowledge or insight into one's own character, abilities, feelings, or motivations; self-understanding. uncountable
"A girl's love is half poetry, an unconscious preference till startled into self-knowledge. Isabella had been grateful for Mr. Glentworth's kindness—struck with his cultivated mind, and impressed with his distinguished appearance; so were all her sisters; but she alone was timid in expressing that admiration; in her alone had they inspired that feeling, which, shy, vague, and tender, is love."
2
an understanding of yourself and your goals and abilities wordnet

"If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves, it is because self-knowledge is painful and we prefer the pleasure of illusion."

From self- + knowledge.

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