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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

conventional wisdom en · NOUN

Meanings

  1. (uncountable, usually) A belief or set of beliefs that is widely accepted, especially one which may be questionable on close examination.
    • Though conventional wisdom has held that stringing out the war would favor Russia, it also carries risks for Mr. Putin, doing more damage to his economy and bringing more Western weaponry to bear[…] 2022 August 26, Andrew E. Kramer, Anton Troianovski, Helene Cooper, “Ukraine Weighs a Risky Offensive to Break Out of a Stalemate”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
    • Well, during our short staycation at Humberston Fitties, just south of Cleethorpes, we cycled through the very unspoilt Lincolnshire Wolds, which are by no means flat and boring as conventional wisdom about the county suggests. 2021 July 28, Christian Wolmar, “Forgotten by the railways, but ripe for the exploring”, in RAIL, number 936, page 35:
    • It will be convenient to have a name for the ideas which are esteemed at any time for their acceptability, and it should be a term that emphasizes this predictability. I shall refer to these ideas henceforth as the conventional wisdom. 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society:
    • So many Americans accept “zero population growth” as a new canon of conventional wisdom that it comes as a surprise to hear the notion disputed. 1971 May 17, “Week’s Watch”, in Time:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
conventional wisdoms Number=Plur lexicographic

Relateds

common sense · as the man says · idée reçue · common knowledge · antiproverb

Synonyms

received wisdom

Translations (12)

fr sagesse populaire (a belief that is widely accepted) · sv invand tankegång (a belief that is widely accepted) · es sabiduría popular (a belief that is widely accepted) · pl chłopski rozum (a belief that is widely accepted) · sv notorisk kunskap (a belief that is widely accepted) · es sabiduría convencional (a belief that is widely accepted) · es sabiduría recibida (a belief that is widely accepted) · es opinión recibida (a belief that is widely accepted) · fi kansanviisaus (a belief that is widely accepted) · fr idée reçue (a belief that is widely accepted) · gl sabedoría popular (a belief that is widely accepted) · ja 世間一般の通念 (a belief that is widely accepted)