dunno

Written form of don't know, which is a reduction of do not know or does not know.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdʌnəʊ/, /dəˈnəʊ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /dəˈnoʊ/; (after a stressed pronoun) /dn̩oʊ/ (e.g. I dunno is /ˈaɪdn̩oʊ/)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (Received Pronunciation) -əʊ, (General American, after a stressed pronoun) -oʊ

dunno

1. (informal) Pronunciation spelling of do not know; pronunciation spelling of does not know.
   • 1915, C.J. Dennis, The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke, published 1916, page 13:

     Fer, as the poit sez, me 'eart 'as got / The pip wiv yearnin' fer - I dunno wot.

   I dunno the answers to any of those questions, and you dunno and he dunno either.

   "Where'd he go?" / "Dunno."

As with several other verbs in English that regularly do not require a pronoun, when the pronoun is not given, it is assumed to be I; all other pronouns must be given. It is never mandatory to drop I, although it is most common to do so when dunno is the only word in the sentence.

• iunno

dunno (plural dunnos)

1. An utterance of the word dunno.

• “dunno”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.