book learning
noun
knowledge acquired by reading books, as distinguished from that obtained through observation and experience.
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book learning
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book-learning
book-learningnounknowledge gained from books rather than from direct personal experience
book learning
Americannoun
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knowledge acquired by reading books, as distinguished from that obtained through observation and experience.
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formal education.
She thought that common sense was just as important as book learning.
book-learning
British
noun
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knowledge gained from books rather than from direct personal experience
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formal education
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of book learning
First recorded in 1580–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But what he lacks in book learning he’s more than made up for in wisdom, humanity and street smarts.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2023
During my dad’s illness, I experienced firsthand what had, until then, just been book learning: Financial planners are often at their best when your life is at its worst.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2021
“While book learning was the star of the show up until now, practical, hands-on learning has come into the picture.”
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2020
“Theory and book learning are great, but there is something special about testing it out,” Kingsley says.
From Washington Post ● May 25, 2019
“I—I’m dumb. About book learning, I mean. Do you think you could teach me anything without—bawling me out?”
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
He is an intellectual at a time when many deem book-learning dangerous and cheap.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 23, 2022
It was too ambitious, lurid with “a vile overdaubing with a coat of book-learning and mysticism.”
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 22, 2019
They did not know much about book-learning, but they knew good building materials when they saw them.
From Economist ● Jun. 12, 2014
Rush, and Rush fans, are long used to being the butt of the joke – kimono-wearing, book-learning, heavily moustachioed Canadian prog-rock overlords never seemed likely to be at the cutting edge of cool.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 24, 2011
“Son, book-learning isn’t everything. Common sense will go a long way. Me and Elzenia had plenty of that.”
From "Life Is So Good" by George Dawson
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.
