1525–35; translation of Latin sēnsus commūnis, itself translation of Greek koinḕ aísthēsis
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are always threads of truth in arguments like these — enough to make ageism sound like common sense.
From MarketWatch • May 7, 2026
Many, perhaps most, of those sympathetic toward astrology would probably describe their relationship with it as “recreational”: they take a little advice here and there, but not seriously, and always balancing it with common sense.
From Slate • May 5, 2026
If you want consistency then you cannot have common sense too.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
In “Walden,” he found constant wonder in the obvious; in “Civil Disobedience,” he mined moral profundity out of common sense.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026
Hence, it is the presumption of common sense and science that these ESP phenomena don’t exist, and the burden of proof is on those who maintain that there are such phenomena.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
