you-know-who

noun

informal
—used in speech to refer to someone who is not named but is known to both the hearer and speaker
We're planning to throw a party for you-know-who.

Examples of you-know-who in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Available at the new Jumbo’s stand (named after you-know-who). — Linda Zavoral, Mercury News, 30 Oct. 2025 At this point the obvious movie star with black hair and impressive stubble, sipping coffee quietly in a fashionable hotel lobby in white wool sweater and jeans, briefly transformed into you-know-who. — Marc Tracy, New York Times, 12 Feb. 2025 Bassini has observed the circuit of influencers and hopefuls who try a more demanding don’t-you-know-who-I-am approach, only to see them get turned away unceremoniously each time. — Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025 The author, a scholar and a distant relation of you-know-who, argues that the history of Transcendentalism has long been distorted by an undue stress on its marquee figures, all of them male. — James Marcus, New Yorker, 2 June 2025

Rhymes for you-know-who

See All Rhymes for you-know-who

Browse Nearby Words

you know what they say
you-know-who
you live and (you) learn
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“You-know-who.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/you-know-who. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All