Meanings
interjection
- Used in response to a question or command in which the target person does not know the answer to or how to respond.
Mr. Schidtler: Does anybody here have any idea why "Inestine" was regarded as a great scientist? Kevin? Kevin: Oh, uh, I don't know.
1982, “You Can't Do That on Television”, in Nickelodeon, season 3, episode 11 - Used to indicate that one is speculating (often used sarcastically when stating the obvious).
Maybe you could, I don't know, directly talk to her about it instead of complaining to me for once?
- UKUsed to express exasperation or incredulity about a given situation or person.
The audacity of that lad... I don't know.
Synonyms & antonyms
Opposite
Translations
Afrikaans ek weet nie
- ek weet nieI don’t know
Arabic لَا أَعْلَمُ, لَا أَعْرِف
- لَا أَعْلَمُ (lā ʔaʕlamu)I don’t know
- لَا أَعْرِف (lā ʔaʕrif)I don’t know
- لَسْتُ أَدْرِي (lastu ʔadrī)I don’t know
- لَا أَدْرِي (lā ʔadrī)I don’t know
Basque ez dakit
- ez dakitI don’t know
Bengali আমি জানি না, জানি না
- আমি জানি না (ami jani na)I don’t know
- জানি না (jani na)I don’t know
Bulgarian не знам
- не знам (ne znam)I don’t know
Catalan no ho sé
- no ho séI don’t know
Chinese Cantonese 我唔知, 我唔知道
- 我唔知 (ngo⁵ m⁴ zi¹)I don’t know
- 我唔知道 (ngo⁵ m⁴ zi¹ dou³)I don’t know
- 我唔識 /我唔识 (ngo⁵ m⁴ sik¹)I don’t know
Chinese Mandarin 我不知道
- 我不知道 (wǒ bù zhīdào)I don’t know
Czech nevím, já nevím
- nevímI don’t know
- já nevímI don’t know
Danish jeg ved det ikke, det ved jeg ikke
- jeg ved det ikkeI don’t know
- det ved jeg ikkeI don’t know
Dutch ik weet het niet, ik weenie
- ik weet het nietI don’t know
- ik weenieI don’t know
- weet ik veelI don’t know
Esperanto mi ne scias
- mi ne sciasI don’t know
Estonian ma ei tea
- ma ei teaI don’t know
Finnish en tiedä, emmä tiiä
- en tiedäI don’t know
- emmä tiiäI don’t know
French je ne sais pas, je sais pas
- je ne sais pasI don’t know
- je sais pasI don’t know
German ich weiß nicht, ich weiß es nicht
- ich weiß nichtI don’t know
- ich weiß es nichtI don’t know
- was weiß ichI don’t know
Greek δεν ξέρω
- δεν ξέρω (den xéro)I don’t know
Hawaiian ʻaʻole au i ʻike
- ʻaʻole au i ʻikeI don’t know
Hebrew אני לא יודע, אני לא יודעת
- אני לא יודע (ani lo yodéʿa)I don’t know
- אני לא יודעת (ani lo yodáʿat)I don’t know
Hindi मुझे नहीं पता, मैं नहीं जानता हूँ
- मुझे नहीं पता (mujhe nahī̃ patā)I don’t know
- मैं नहीं जानता हूँ (ma͠i nahī̃ jāntā hū̃)I don’t know
- मैं नहीं जानती हूँ (ma͠i nahī̃ jāntī hū̃)I don’t know
- मुझको मालूम नहीं है (mujhko mālūm nahī̃ hai)I don’t know
Hungarian nem tudom
- nem tudomI don’t know
Icelandic ég veit ekki, ég veit það ekki
- ég veit ekkiI don’t know
- ég veit það ekkiI don’t know
Indonesian saya tidak tahu, aku nggak tau
- saya tidak tahuI don’t know
- aku nggak tauI don’t know
- au ah gelapI don’t know
Irish níl a fhios agam
- níl a fhios agamI don’t know
Italian boh, non lo so
- bohI don’t know
- non lo soI don’t know
- non soI don’t know
- non sapreiI don’t know
Japanese 知りません, 分かりません
- 知りません (shirimasen)I don’t know
- 分かりません (wakarimasen)I don’t know
Korean 몰라요, 몰라
- 몰라요 (mollayo)I don’t know
- 몰라 (molla)I don’t know
- 모르겠어요 (moreugesseoyo)I don’t know
Latin nesciō, īgnōrō
- nesciōI don’t know
- īgnōrōI don’t know
Latvian es nezinu
- es nezinuI don’t know
Lithuanian nežinau
- nežinauI don’t know
Malay saya tidak tahu, aku tidak tahu
- saya tidak tahuI don’t know
- aku tidak tahuI don’t know
Norwegian Bokmål jeg vet ikke
- jeg vet ikkeI don’t know
Polish nie wiem, nie znam
- nie wiemI don’t know
- nie znamI don’t know
Portuguese não sei, sei lá
- não seiI don’t know
- sei láI don’t know
Romanian nu știu
- nu știuI don’t know
Russian я не зна́ю, не зна́ю
- я не зна́ю (ja ne znáju)I don’t know
- не зна́ю (ne znáju)I don’t know
Scottish Gaelic chan eil fios agam, chan eil fhios agam
- chan eil fios agamI don’t know
- chan eil fhios agamI don’t know
- chan aithne dhomhI don’t know
Slovak neviem
- neviemI don’t know
Spanish no sé, no lo sé
- no séI don’t know
- no lo séI don’t know
- lo ignoroI don’t know
Swahili sijui
- sijuiI don’t know
Swedish jag vet inte
- jag vet inteI don’t know
Tagalog hindi ko alam, aywan ko
- hindi ko alamI don’t know
- aywan koI don’t know
- ewan koI don’t know
- hindi ko po alamI don’t know
Tamil எனக்கு தெரியாது, நான் அறியேன்
- எனக்கு தெரியாது (eṉakku teriyātu)I don’t know
- நான் அறியேன் (nāṉ aṟiyēṉ)I don’t know
Thai ไม่รู้, ไม่ทราบ
- ไม่รู้ (mâi rúu)I don’t know
- ไม่ทราบ (mâi sâap)I don’t know
Turkish bilmiyorum, tanımıyorum
- bilmiyorumI don’t know
- tanımıyorumI don’t know
Ukrainian я не зна́ю
- я не зна́ю (ja ne znáju)I don’t know
Urdu مُجھ کو مَعْلُوم نَہِیں ہَے, مُجھے نَہِیں پَتَہ
- مُجھ کو مَعْلُوم نَہِیں ہَے (mujh ko ma'lūm nahī̃ hai)I don’t know
- مُجھے نَہِیں پَتَہ (mujhe nahī̃ pata)I don’t know
Vietnamese tôi không biết, mình không biết
- tôi không biếtI don’t know
- mình không biếtI don’t know
Welsh wn i ddim, 'dw i ddim yn nabod
- wn i ddimI don’t know
- 'dw i ddim yn nabodI don’t know
Yiddish איך ווייס נישט, איך ווייס ניט
- איך ווייס נישט (ikh veys nisht)I don’t know
- איך ווייס ניט (ikh veys nit)I don’t know
Zulu angazi
- angaziI don’t know
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with I don't know
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
I don't know. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20don't%20know
MLA
“I don't know.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20don't%20know. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “I don't know,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/I%20don't%20know.
Source: I don't know on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.