conventional wisdom

noun

Definition of conventional wisdomnext
as in party line
opinions or beliefs that are held or accepted by most people Conventional wisdom in Hollywood says that a movie can't succeed unless it stars a famous actor or actress.

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of conventional wisdom At the outset of the race, the conventional wisdom among Michigan Democrats was that Stevens was the clear favorite, and that El-Sayed and McMorrow would compete with each other to emerge as her challenger. — Jason Zengerle, New Yorker, 10 July 2026 The conventional wisdom in sports finance is that American franchises—the NFL, NBA, MLB—are grotesquely overvalued by any traditional metric. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 28 June 2026 Innovation flourishes when people are free to think, create and challenge conventional wisdom. — Ben Carson, Baltimore Sun, 26 June 2026 Using per-game instead of per-60 baselines while adding extensive adjustments for quality of competition, teammates and pace has brought every player’s value much closer to conventional wisdom. — Dom Luszczyszyn, New York Times, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for conventional wisdom
Recent Examples of Synonyms for conventional wisdom
  1. party line
  2. generalization
  3. commonplace
  4. stereotype
  5. routine
Noun
  • Ryan was one of 103 Democrats in the House to break with his party line and vote to end all aid to Israel earlier this month.
    — Max Grinstein, The Washington Examiner, 30 July 2026
  • The French knew about some of Stalin’s excesses—the show trials, the labor camps, the bloody purges of those who strayed from the party line.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 21 July 2026
Definition of party line
Noun
  • So solving this generalization gap is key to maintaining its status as today’s market champion.
    — Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 July 2026
  • Robots exposed to only 48 language combinations achieved about 25 percent generalization.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 23 July 2026
Definition of generalization
Noun
  • Wolff was only the eighth woman to drive a Formula 1 car (four more have done it since); the role, a now-commonplace one that includes driving the simulator during Grand Prix weekends to inform trackside strategy, was created for her.
    — Danielle McNally, InStyle, 28 May 2026
  • The videos are often integrated into larger montages of drone strikes, underscoring how commonplace these drones have become for Russian forces.
    — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
Definition of commonplace
Noun
  • Many of my previous columns have stressed the importance of pushing back on the (often negative) stereotypes of aging.
    — Jann E. Freed, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026
  • Haven, in particular, drew many laughs from the audience by playing Lee’s dull boyfriend Peter as a cartoonish surfer boy stereotype.
    — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 29 July 2026
Definition of stereotype
Noun
  • The team announced López had discomfort in his left knee during his warm-up routine.
    — Chad Bishop, AJC.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Want to know what to wear to feel closer to yourself, how to update your home to meet a new phase of life, or ways to switch up a beauty routine during an important transit?
    — Meghan Rose, Glamour, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of routine

Browse Nearby Words

conventionally
conventional wisdom
conventional wisdoms
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Conventional wisdom.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/conventional%20wisdom. Accessed 5 Aug. 2026.

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