know-nothing
noun
know-noth·ing
ˈnō-ˌnə-thiŋ 
2
capitalized K&N
: a member of a 19th century secret American political organization hostile to the political influence of recent immigrants and Roman Catholics
know-nothing
adjective
Examples of know-nothing in a Sentence
often disparaged her coworkers as a bunch of know-nothings
Recent Examples on the Web
Then there are those who rage against their children’s accomplishments, clinging to the hierarchy agreed upon when the child was a helpless know-nothing.
—
Madeline Leung Coleman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
Lewis’s superficial attack abets the know-nothing Trump Administration, which spurns cooperative allies and rational arrangements.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The secret is that Spike’s know-nothing naivete encourages us to see the world through the eyes of someone who’s new to every part of it.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 June 2025
The first half hour is filled with the weirdly neutral techno jargon of soldiers jabbering code words into their headphones to what I (as a know-nothing) am tempted to call Mission Control.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
Even as Republicans embrace him as an iconoclast, Democrats and other critics have lambasted Kennedy as a know-nothing without the scientific or bureaucratic experience to do the job effectively.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 7 Feb. 2025
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Madeline Leung Coleman, Vulture, 27 Aug. 2025
Lewis’s superficial attack abets the know-nothing Trump Administration, which spurns cooperative allies and rational arrangements.
—Harper’s Magazine, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
The secret is that Spike’s know-nothing naivete encourages us to see the world through the eyes of someone who’s new to every part of it.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 18 June 2025
The first half hour is filled with the weirdly neutral techno jargon of soldiers jabbering code words into their headphones to what I (as a know-nothing) am tempted to call Mission Control.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 28 Mar. 2025
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
Even as Republicans embrace him as an iconoclast, Democrats and other critics have lambasted Kennedy as a know-nothing without the scientific or bureaucratic experience to do the job effectively.
—Vox Staff, Vox, 7 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Know-nothing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/know-nothing. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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