Phrase guide

you never know

phrase · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

phrase

Meaning 1

Used to speculate about a possibility; especially, a slight one.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • At this point, I doubt that they'll meet their deadline, but you never know — stranger things have happened.
  • 8 October 2010, Colin Jackson for BBC Sport, 'Magic can happen between Turner and Sharman' They are only running times in the 13.20s, but next year he could run 13.25 and you never know, he may end up running 13.1 quite easily

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

16 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: ei sitä koskaan tiedä — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • French: sait-on jamais — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • French: on ne sait jamais — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • German: man kann nie wissen — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • German: man weiß nie — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Luxembourgish: et weess een ni — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ikkje godt å vita — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Polish: nigdy nie wiadomo — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Portuguese: nunca se sabe — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Russian: как знать (kak znatʹ) — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Russian: кто зна́ет (kto znájet) — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Russian: чем чёрт не шу́тит (čem čort ne šútit) — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Spanish: nunca se sabe — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Spanish: uno nunca sabe — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Spanish: una nunca sabe — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance
  • Spanish: quién quita — phrase used to speculate about a slim chance