Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

the dear knows

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.59 in modern English

Syllables: the dear -knows
IPA

23

Scrabble Score

12

Letters

2

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

God knows; nobody knows

Dated

phrase

God knows; of course, certainly, nobody could doubt

Dated

Example Sentences

"O thou, whom poets call Melpomene, Who hast inspir'd, the dear knows how many In ancient times to sing O Dear O's On hapless fates of unknown heroes,"
"I know where I’m going, I know who’s going with me, I know who I love, But the dear knows who I’ll marry."
"And there it sits, spreading rubbish about because of the cats, and smelling like the Dear knows what."
"Then she gave a little sigh and said: ‘Ah, well! We did our best, the dear knows.’"
"The dear knows your father worked hard enough for the money he is laying out on your education."

Etymology

Unclear. Bliss and Dolan suggest a conflation of dear, as in "oh dear" or "the Dear Lord", and deer, by analogy with the conflation in Irish of Fiadha "God" and fiadh "deer".

Usage

Dated

Questions

What does the dear knows mean?: God knows; nobody knows
Where does the dear knows come from?: Unclear. Bliss and Dolan suggest a conflation of dear, as in "oh dear" or "the Dear Lord", and deer, by analogy with the conflation in Irish of Fiadha "God" and fiadh "deer".

How to pronounce the dear knows

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “the dear knows”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “the dear knows”.
Repeat and practice — Say “the dear knows” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.