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Definition of conventional wisdom
: the generally accepted belief, opinion, judgment, or prediction about a particular matter
Examples of conventional wisdom in a Sentence
Conventional wisdom in Hollywood says that a movie can't succeed unless it stars a famous actor or actress.
Recent Examples on the Web The conventional wisdom is that the coronavirus poses the most risk to the elderly and those with chronic health problems.
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Lauren Caruba, San Antonio Express-News, "A last resort against COVID-19," 26 Apr. 2020 The conventional wisdom is that a woman could never ascend to the leadership of North Korea, a country stuck in a time warp of passé fashions, hairdos, music, and social mores.
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Barbara Demick, The New Yorker, "In North Korea, the Fourth Man Could Be a Woman," 25 Apr. 2020 Not long ago, the conventional wisdom among pundits was that the Democratic primary had been derailed by policy discussions and criticism of the Obama administration, instead of forceful criticism of Donald Trump.
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Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic, "Go for the Jugular, Joe Biden," 1 Apr. 2020 As for males versus females, conventional wisdom is that females are softer than males, and need a lighter touch in training.
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Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, "How to Choose Your First Bird-Dog Puppy," 23 Mar. 2020 The conventional wisdom now is that Dombrowski wasn’t the right choice for the next phase of Red Sox roster construction.
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BostonGlobe.com, "And we thought the February 2017 firing of Claude Julien by the Bruins just as the champion Patriots were making their way down Boylston Street on duck boats was a clumsy attempt at a news dump.," 11 Sep. 2019 The fresh wave of buying challenges some conventional wisdom about price controls and real estate.
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Konrad Putzier, WSJ, "Buyers Return After Rent-Control Slams New York Apartment Values," 4 Feb. 2020 And at this level of stillness, our conventional wisdom about motion breaks down, as the bizarre rules of quantum mechanics kick in.
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Sophia Chen, Wired, "A Tiny Glass Bead Goes as Still as Nature Allows," 30 Jan. 2020 Ellencweig said, a radical departure from the conventional wisdom about what shoppers focus on.
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Mark Phelan, chicagotribune.com, "High-end buyers are changing what they want in a vehicle. Here’s why automakers are complying," 6 Dec. 2019
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'conventional wisdom.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for conventional wisdom
The first known use of conventional wisdom was in 1838
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