wisdom
Americannoun
-
wisdom
plural
-
the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.
- Synonyms:
- understanding, sense
- Antonyms:
- stupidity
-
scholarly knowledge or learning.
the wisdom of the schools.
- Synonyms:
- enlightenment, erudition, sapience
- Antonyms:
- ignorance
-
wise sayings or teachings; precepts.
-
a wise act or saying.
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(initial capital letter) Wisdom of Solomon.
noun
-
the ability or result of an ability to think and act utilizing knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight
-
accumulated knowledge, erudition, or enlightenment
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archaic a wise saying or wise sayings or teachings
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obsolete soundness of mind
Synonym Usage
See information.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of wisdom
First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English wīsdōm; cognate with Old Norse vīsdōmr, German Weistum. See wise 1, -dom
Explanation
Wisdom is the combination of experience, knowledge and careful judgment. If you've got it, you're "wise." If you haven't, well don't worry, most of us don't either. Wisdom is also the term we give to the sum total of a culture's knowledge and application of that knowledge, acquired over time. We talk about "the wisdom of the ancient Greeks," for example, meaning everything about their culture from their scientific and philosophical discoveries to the art and culture they created. Don't confuse wisdom with knowledge — which is merely the accumulation of facts with no sense of what meaning to make from them.
Vocabulary lists containing wisdom
An Inspirational Back-to-School Word List
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act IV
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"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act IV
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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.
In a key scene, the narrator describes a mentor, Franklin, whose words and wisdom wash over Youth “like a Bach fugue creeping out of a cheap car stereo.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
But he’s not sharing folksy wisdom, he’s telling an actor what he thinks of the audience.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
Ian Burns, who is in his late 60s, offered some words of wisdom.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
"My ambition is to be this owl that's often associated with a little bit of wisdom," she said in 2019.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
“After your Grandma Luna—” He’s going for wisdom, but the real wisdom is knowing there sometimes isn’t any.
From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
