Definition of COMMON SENSE

Choose the Right Synonym for common sense

sense, common sense, judgment, wisdom mean ability to reach intelligent conclusions. sense implies a reliable ability to judge and decide with soundness, prudence, and intelligence. a choice showing good sense common sense suggests an average degree of such ability without sophistication or special knowledge. common sense tells me it's wrong judgment implies sense tempered and refined by experience, training, and maturity. they relied on her judgment for guidance wisdom implies sense and judgment far above average. a leader of rare wisdom

Examples of common sense in a Sentence

You really should go to see a doctor if your leg hurts that much. It's just common sense! Obey the laws and use common sense when operating your boat. She's very smart but she doesn't have a lot of common sense.

Recent Examples on the Web Thus, while action is never guaranteed, common sense suggests that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, GM Scott Harris and their crew will be a lot more active at these meetings than Zaidi was at last year’s, which were a dud as a whole. — Henry Schulman, SFChronicle.com, "Giants head to winter meetings with many holes and a fast-moving market," 6 Dec. 2019 But common sense tells me Likens was trying to follow his boss’ orders. — Kent Somers, azcentral, "Has Herm Edwards had enough 'ugly' play at ASU?," 1 Dec. 2019 Across the country, states grappled with whether common sense was still enough to qualify someone to sit in judgment on such cases. — Joseph Cranney, ProPublica, "These Judges Can Have Less Training Than Barbers but Still Decide Thousands of Cases Each Year," 27 Nov. 2019 The film is overlong, the tension sags and characters sometimes make frustrating decisions that defy common sense to advance the plot. — Barbara Vandenburgh, azcentral, "‘Queen & Slim’ is swaggering and devastating," 26 Nov. 2019 This isn’t the first time Rodriguez didn’t use common sense. — Paula Rogo, Essence, "Gina Rodriguez Apologizes For Using N-Word: 'I Have Some Serious Learning' To Do," 16 Oct. 2019 Some management gurus and theorists have rushed to get ahead of the A.I. trend by counterintuitively slowing it down: flatly telling corporate boards not to abandon human intuition and common sense. — Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, "Learning to Love the Bot: Managers Need to Understand A.I. Logic Before Using It as a Business Tool," 26 Sep. 2019 Yet San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, who pride themselves on defying common sense, unanimously voted last week to support the cutbacks. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "San Francisco’s Trump Water Strike," 6 Nov. 2018 But in a country reeling from one mass shooting after another, where most citizens can purchase guns almost as easily as shoppers can buy cans of tuna, common sense is raising its hand. — Beth Thames | Bethmthames@gmail.com, al, "Magic wands, butter knives and real threats," 11 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'common sense.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Common sense.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/common%20sense. Accessed 15 December 2019.