Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person with superior, usually specialized knowledge or highly refined taste; a connoisseur.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A connoisseur: most used in the plural.
Wiktionary
- n. Someone possessing superior or specialized knowledge in a particular field; a connoisseur.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A connoisseur.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine arts
Etymologies
- Obsolete Italian cognoscente (now conoscente) from Latin cognoscere "to know" (Wiktionary)
- Obsolete Italian, from Latin cognōscēns, cognōscent-, present participle of cognōscere, to know; see cognition. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But considered a must-read among the cognoscente, The Hotline propelled Craig to a higher profile in Washington that enabled him to take his first real steps toward the success he enjoys today.”
“And in dealing with Native American tribes, the US needs to be cognoscente that this is the same as making a treaty with Russia over bombs.”
The Huffington Post: Mike Ragogna: Better Late Than Never: A Conversation With Buffy Sainte-Marie
“PESCA: Yeah, baseball cognoscente knows that the Tampa Bay Rays are a really interesting and really good team.”
“But apparently the cognoscente doesnt include people from the St. Petersburg and Tampa region, because this team has just had an enormous amount of difficulty drawing fans to their game.”
“The road ahead will not be an easy one for the millennial generation, but I am secure in the fact that the series of blunders that we have been witness to over the past decade will serve to make us, the next generation of leaders, more cognoscente of the world in which we live.”
The Huffington Post: Jeremy White: What the Future Holds for the Millennial Generation
“What I do recommend, because I am being cognoscente of your wallet, is that perhaps you pick her up something really fabulous such as a cool necklace from David Yurman or maybe a chic new Gucci bag, because I don't know a girl in the world who wouldn't want either.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Cohen: Ask Michael Cohen: How To Give Good Gift
“It seems like fewer and fewer movies and performers are invited into the inner circle each year, probably because so many are written off as non-contenders by the cognoscente before they even in theaters.”
“The son of physicist Freeman Dyson and brother of computer cognoscente Esther Dyson, Dyson is better known as an expert in building and studying baidarkas, kayaks built by the Aleut Indians in the 18th century.”
“For the non-cognoscente who don't have the foggiest idea of what we're referring to: Josh Schwartz, the creator of Gossip Girl, The O.C. and Chuck, has been chosen by 20th Century Fox to write the script for X-Men: First Class.”
Will Kid Chino Make an Appearance? Josh Schwartz Pens Latest X-Men Movie!
“All participants are cognoscente of this fundamental market analytic of "reversion to the mean.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cognoscente’.
-
Another 250 Spelling Words
Another range of words from the intermediate to the advanced speller's level.
cherimoya, parthenogenesis, sommelier, bupkis, kichel, voulge, indivisibility, retiarius, sewellel, vihuela, ossature, jalfrezi and 238 more...
-
List of Impressive Dissertation Words
Extraordinary words that Johnston and Shea might try to use while writing their dissertations.
egress, limn, effluvium, asynchronous, imbibe, opine, cognoscente, gnosis, inchoate, cathect, austerity, prescient and 1 more...
-
Pursue bliss
Words for those who believe everyday should be your day in the sun. Follow your bliss!
Bon vivant, frabjous, Joseph Campbell, bel esprit, esthete, elegantiarum, grammaticaster, jouissance, surplus-jouissance, elysian, thaumazein, mirabile dictu and 61 more...
-
Vega's Logophile Dictionary
Words I've heard/read in use, words being learnt, words that I want to eventually use in everyday language, words that are high-brow and elitist and scholarly and obscure, words that display the wo...
parsimonious, torpor, recalcitrant, plebeian, vitriol, gumption, augur, aestival, celerity, diaphanous, farrago, nonpareil and 287 more...
-
MiaLuthien's list ♥
gambit, prehensile, coquetry, impunity, genuflect, ensconce, clavicle, delude, beget, castigate, life caching, convoluted and 478 more...
-
slackagogo's Words
agelast, aggiornamento, zaftig, wowserism, vox barbara, verbigeration, tchotchke, tautology, sycophant, spoonerism, solipsism, sobriquet and 288 more...
-
inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
-
bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1401 more...
-
ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
-
List of words to expand my vocabulary
does what it says on the tin, and is severely needed.
indolent, insolent, idly, divulge, tattle, benign, roguish, daintily, idle, dowdy, sordid, wanton and 242 more...
-
kenspeckle's Words
kenspeckle, milquetoast, effluvium, kaboom, maelstrom, ennui, alpenglow, defenestration, schadenfreude, autochthonous, obstreperous, lachrymose and 124 more...
-
elij's Words
diegesis, intrinsic, semantic, salience, nonchalant, infosthetics, ambiguous, altruism, cynical, abstruse, vatic, encomium and 137 more...
-
An Unspecific Gathering
Recently added to be organized (perhaps) later.
metaeuphoria, metaeuphoria, protologism, neologism, contextual, commingling, meta, euphoria, elucidation, disambiguation, hypertextual, kenspeckle and 136 more...
-
bosporian's Words
corybantiasm, delphic, oneiromancy, bibliothecary, wyrd, lygophilia, cimmerian, agathodaemon, crepuscular, ignosis, peisithanatos, alpenglow and 94 more...
-
Dictionary.com Words of the Days of 2000
1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008
segue, palimpsest, bête noire, farrago, expatiate, nadir, protean, fulsome, constitutional, quondam, sinecure, vainglory and 324 more...
-
SimianFarmer's Words
abnegate, abstemious, amative, ameliorate, apocryphal, apothegm, apotheosis, apposite, arrogate, assiduous, badinage, beneficence and 133 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for cognoscente.

Prolagus In modern Italian, this word is not in use, and conoscente (same etymology) means "acquaintance" (someone who knows... who you are). Jun 28, 2008