Q&A for How to Deal With a Know It All

Condescending behavior is a power play where the other person tries to make you look small so they can look big. Once you are done fuming, discuss it with them. For instance, you might say "The other day in the meeting, you said something to me that felt uncomfortable and I wanted to bring it your attention so we can work through it and avoid it happening again." Don't lecture them and get them to change—just set clear boundaries.

Try addressing their behavior in a polite way. You might say "It seems like you really enjoy contributing to the conversation, and I'm curious if that's true for others. Would it work for you if we take turns sharing so that we can all be able to contribute to the conversation? How would that be for you?"

Try to express how their behavior makes you feel. For instance, you might say "I find it hard to express something from my perspective sometimes. The other day when I was sharing my opinion, the conversation immediately went to what you thought. I'd like a little more space to get to share my own ideas or opinions."

It's fine to get help. Admitting your need allows you to actually learn something instead of being clueless. There are almost certainly other people in your class wondering the same things.

Try your best to ignore the subject and change it each time they return to it. If that doesn't work tell that person "You have your opinions and I have mine and I don't want to keep discussing this matter so heatedly any longer." Then make a polite excuse to leave and do something with your friends.

Keep your opinions to yourself occasionally.

Unfortunately, there is one of those in EVERY classroom. You can either ignore it or say something along the lines of "I'm glad you found it easy; however, not everybody is so smart." Try to watch your tone, and be the bigger person.

Often, a know-it-all is not aware that his behavior is making others feel uncomfortable. Express your feelings as respectfully as you can.

Just tell her that you respect her but you don't need her help. Tell her she shouldn't be afraid to make a mistake, and it's OK to admit it. Just ignore her; you're gonna deal with people like this all through life.

Just calmly tell him that it was difficult for you. Your friend's attitude of arrogance is obnoxious, but the best way to counter that is to remain calm, humble, and to demonstrate a good sense of humor.

Maybe instead of telling her to stop, just start challenging what she says she knows. If you start challenging everything she says, then she will probably stop on her own because it will be too exhausting to keep trying to come up with stories to explain herself. Doing this worked well for me with my sister who is also a "know-it-all."

Follow the guidelines in the article. If you want to show them that your opinion is not uneducated or unscientific, back it up with support from some good sources - and if they have good support for their own opinion, do try to consider their perspective. If you have no support for your opinion besides your own thoughts or hearsay, then frankly, it may well be uneducated and unscientific. Be sure you do educate yourself on things before professing opinions about them. If you've done all this and the person still insults you, they're likely just full of themselves and it's nothing personal, so don't worry about it too much.

You could maybe try being a little bit of a know-it-all to her. Not in a mean way, but just kind of like the way she is doing it. If you don't want to do that then you can kindly talk to her and just ask her to tone down a little bit.

Talk to your human resources department for advice, or try to ignore your boss when he displays these characteristics. If you are very unhappy, consider looking for a new job.

If that friend can't keep going her own path, and if she is not helping you physically, mentally, and or emotionally, then it may be time to let that know-it-all friend go!

The same as when anyone calls you names. You can confront the person about it because this behavior is impolite, or you can just ignore the know-it-all. The other person is clearly frustrated, jealous, uneducated, or all of those, and it has nothing to do with you.

Talk to her parents. It's a delicate situation, so be careful not to insult them. Tell them that you're worried that your niece is a perfectionist and cannot deal with failure, and that this could be very damaging to her sense of self as she gets older. Everyone needs to learn that it's okay to have flaws and not be perfect at everything. Suggest they have a talk with her about the behavior that you perceive as superior. Of course, if they refuse to do anything about this, you're more or less out of luck. She's their child.

If she says something just answer really dry, like "okay... what do you want to achieve with this?" or if it's something mean about you just say, "yeah, you're totally right!", she will have no idea how to respond and in the end she will stop. If it's something like "you're a wanderer and your house is a box" just say, "how do you know? oh, you're one of my neighbors!" Confidence is the best solution.

Clearly your friend isn't an angel, just like everyone else in the world. Just be the bigger person and ignore her annoying behavior and notice the good things she does, praising her for not boasting, for not being a pain and for not showing off.

We all have our own opinions, and if one person thinks that about you, it's not a big deal. However, if others are mentioning it to you as well, you might consider following the methods in Be Humble .

That's probably not the best idea. Don't confront their know-it-all-ness directly, just say something like, "I feel like you know everything, and you're so talkative, so you always say it!" and laugh. They will probably suddenly feel aware about how talkative they are about things they know and try to change it, though they don't show it on the outside.

There are know-it-alls in every class, it's best to ignore them or remain calm. Try to have a friend who can help you out or do the talking for you, and if it really frustrates you, then explain how you feel to your teacher or other trusted adult and they can help you learn to be patient with it, or talk with a counselor if you are having a hard enough time.

To avoid people doesn't mean to never be near them or never speak with them. You can just let them talk and think to yourself "I'm not really listening..." and drop in an "Oh really?" every now and then. However, this is your father; you are allowed to let him know how you feel. Be kind and loving, but express how you feel he's a know-it-all and it can be a little irritating sometimes. Ask him to listen to your thoughts and consider them sometimes, too.

You could try bringing up the issue with your teacher or a guidance counselor. If you cannot get through to her yourself, it may take a different person or different approach to solve the issue.