How to Use might/should have known in a Sentence

might/should have known

phrase
  • Frankly, those who fell for these mirages should have known better.
    — Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 20 Feb. 2025
  • And the gun sellers knew or should have known that these guns would lead to gut-wrenching murder.
    — Rayna Reid Rayford, Essence, 18 July 2023
  • Investigators raced to check jail phone logs to see who might have known ahead of time.
    — Chris Kenning, USA Today, 17 June 2025
  • But veteran Del Rey fans should have known better than to get their hopes up.
    — Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 11 Apr. 2025
  • The thief probably should have known not to mess with someone like Bisping.
    — Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 2 Oct. 2024
  • Nor does his ability to attract people who should have known better.
    — Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 14 May 2025
  • As a public official, Burchett should have known and done better.
    — David Plazas, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
  • Everybody should have known in the 1960s that they might have been exposed to it.
    — Katie Hafner, Scientific American, 17 Oct. 2024
  • But, at the same time…someone should have known that there was a possibility that someone would say that.
    — Jonathan Bernstein, Rolling Stone, 20 July 2023
  • The lawsuit also says that other coaches on the basketball team should have known what was going on.
    — Noah Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 23 Nov. 2023
  • The sheriff’s office did not say how the 10-year-old suspect and the victim might have known each other.
    — Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 1 Jan. 2024
  • Prosecutors allege Chavez should have known this was not a reason for ketamine use.
    — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2024
  • Jessi says Taylor should have known that her army of acolytes was going to jump to her defense and bully the other moms.
    — Olivia Crandall, Vulture, 19 May 2025
  • Whether Shiv should have known better is a question Succession dances around quite often.
    — Vulture, 29 May 2023
  • This group in particular should have known this and declined to be played by such an obvious charlatan.
    — Keith Bromery, Sun Sentinel, 8 Aug. 2024
  • The new rules make clear that drones can't be exported if the exporter knows − or should have known − the drones could be used for military purposes.
    — John Bacon, USA TODAY, 31 July 2023
  • The tanker had relayed its coordinates, the man said, meaning all other vessels in the area should have known its position.
    — CBS News, 11 Mar. 2025
  • Durov should have known that as a French citizen, the state will get you at some stage in your life, and so last week he was arrested in France.
    — Mike O'Sullivan, Forbes, 7 Sep. 2024
  • With the Sinaitic teachings and the Tabernacle in place, the Jews should have known better than to falter again.
    — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 24 June 2024
  • The format was impossible and CNN’s bosses should have known that.
    — Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2023
  • Detectives pulled in drapes, dope addicts, drunks staggering out of bars, truck drivers, soldiers, school chums and anyone else who might have known her.
    — Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 27 Jan. 2024
  • Fans are thinking that Joe Alwyn might have known Taylor Swift was going to buy back her masters all along.
    — Stylecaster Editors, StyleCaster, 3 June 2025
  • The council knew the contract was coming and the budget committee should have known the likely amount needed for a while, Czilli said.
    — Doug Ross, Chicago Tribune, 13 May 2025
  • Waste management experts tell The Verge that a large company like Tesla should have known better.
    — Justine Calma, The Verge, 3 Feb. 2024
  • If the case had gone to trial, the school district’s liability would have hinged on whether other employees of the school district could have or should have known about the abuse.
    — Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2023
  • By now, the Angels should have known Ohtani well enough to understand that his desire to play, and win, overwhelms his every other instinct.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2023
  • Employees at the hotel also should have known about the broken revolving door before Truschke's death, the complaint says.
    — Jonathan Limehouse, USA Today, 29 Mar. 2025
  • The person knew or should have known that the act endangers the physical health or safety of the other person or causes severe emotional distress.
    — Nicole Brown Chau, CBS News, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Skaggs’ family argues the Angels knew, or should have known, about Skaggs’ drug use prior to his death.
    — Sean Emery, Orange County Register, 16 Jan. 2025
  • The prosecution would have had to prove at trial that Templin should have known or had reason to know that the man was an officer when Templin struck him.
    — Alex Brizee, Idaho Statesman, 22 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'might/should have known.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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