book learning

noun

1. knowledge acquired by reading books, as distinguished from that obtained through observation and experience.

2. formal education.

   She thought that common sense was just as important as book learning.

book-learning

noun

1. knowledge gained from books rather than from direct personal experience

2. formal education

Other Word Forms

• book-learned adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of book learning¹

First recorded in 1580–90

Example Sentences

The Parisian writer Colombe Schneck wrote about taking up swimming in her 40s after a lifetime devoted to brainy, sedentary pursuits: “I had so much to learn, but it wasn’t the kind of book learning I was used to. It was an unexplored, parallel world, the world of sensation.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It is very true that this person exists who is a hustler, who is as fly as she says she is and who has not only book smarts but street smarts, which I think is very underrated, or what’s the word I’m looking for, not valued as much as a book learning.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Book learning, in MAGA-land, is for lesbians and cat ladies.

Read more on Salon

In supple pentameter, Shakespeare explores the difference between the book learning the young men meant to engage in and the learning that emerges, despite their plans, from “the prompting eyes of beauty’s tutors.”

Read more on New York Times

The two poles of big American game shows are “Jeopardy,” the high-stakes egghead showdown that rewards book learning, and “The Price Is Right,” the giddy guessing game that tests everyday consumer skills like knowing what to pay for a box of Hamburger Helper.

Read more on New York Times

Related Words

• culture 
• discipline 
• improvement 
• information 
• learning 
• literacy 
• scholarship 
• schooling 
• science 
• study 
• teaching 
• training