know better
idiom
1
: to be smart or sensible enough not to do something
You walked home alone? Don't you know better (than that)?
She'll know better than to trust them again.
There's no excuse for his behavior. He's old enough to know better.
Don't blame him. He's just a child and he doesn't know (any) better.
2
: to know or understand the truth about something
She tried to tell me that it wasn't her fault, but I know better.
3
: to know or understand more than other people
You can't tell him what to do. He always thinks that he knows better.
Examples of know better in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Engineers know better than to ship black-box code that could trigger outages or introduce critical flaws.
—
Ian Amit, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025
After all, these devoted attendees know better than anyone that the singer-songwriter has trekked through New York clubs for the past four years, growing her audience with each performance.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2025
School leaders and classroom teachers know better than anyone else what their students and school communities need to thrive.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 17 July 2025
Forecasters predict fall weather to hit the United States over Labor Day weekend, but Arizonans know better than to get their hopes up.
—Olivia Rose, AZCentral.com, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for know better
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Ian Amit, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025
After all, these devoted attendees know better than anyone that the singer-songwriter has trekked through New York clubs for the past four years, growing her audience with each performance.
—Maya Georgi, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2025
School leaders and classroom teachers know better than anyone else what their students and school communities need to thrive.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 17 July 2025
Forecasters predict fall weather to hit the United States over Labor Day weekend, but Arizonans know better than to get their hopes up.
—Olivia Rose, AZCentral.com, 9 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for know better
Cite this Entry
“Know better.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/know%20better. Accessed 2 Aug. 2025.
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