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View synonyms for conventional wisdom

conventional wisdom

noun

  1. something that is generally believed; prudence.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of conventional wisdom1

Probably earlier than 1965–70
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Idioms and Phrases

A widely held belief on which most people act. For example, According to conventional wisdom, an incumbent nearly always wins more votes than a new candidate . This term was invented by John Kenneth Galbraith, who used it in The Affluent Society (1958) to describe economic ideas that are familiar, predictable, and therefore accepted by the general public. Today it is used in any context where public opinion has considerable influence on the course of events.
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Example Sentences

We accepted the conventional wisdom that this is what restaurant work was like, and we didn’t believe we had agency to change it.

From Eater

The conventional wisdom, based on one view of the fundamentals, was that the company was going the way of Blockbuster.

In the realms of policy and business, 2020 overturned conventional wisdom about what levels of government intervention and stimulus were acceptable to forestall certain disaster.

From Fortune

According to conventional wisdom, the hydrogen atom is bound to one fluorine by a covalent bond and to the other fluorine by a hydrogen bond.

At the time, the conventional wisdom was that delivery companies needed to dominate big, dense cities, where lots of customers live within short distances, to be successful.

From Fortune

Despite conventional wisdom, there are no rewards just for participating.

Conventional wisdom holds that most excessive drinkers are alcohol dependent.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom, there is nothing intrinsically “progressive” about hating suburbs.

At its worst, The Stranger merely recycles the biases, conventional wisdom, and cynical bitterness of inside-the-beltway habitués.

OFA turned conventional wisdom on its head and made it dance.

She made little remarks full of conventional wisdom, and appealed to his judgment on several points as they drove along.

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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.

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