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conventional wisdom

noun

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

Examples have not been reviewed.

Given this fact, the “conventional wisdom” suggests that Trump’s presidency should be in grave trouble at this early point in his second term.

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"The conventional wisdom at the time was to find a person who has access to information, works really hard — not to trust the markets to do their job"

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Donald Trump continues to smash the conventional wisdom, norms, institutions, rule of law and U.S. democracy.

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For boomers, conventional wisdom says they resent millennials, that they think they’re lazy or entitled, and that, hey, maybe they could afford a home if they stopped shelling out so much on avocado toast.

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Until very recently, such an action was deemed unimaginable by the “conventional wisdom.”

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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