NOUS Synonyms: 57 Similar and Opposite Words

nous

noun

Definition of nous

chiefly British

as in prudence

the ability to make intelligent decisions especially in everyday matters an Oxford don who was long on erudition but a little short on everyday nous

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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 nous Kazakhstan’s Bublik, 29, has a serve to match Fritz’s, the groundstroke power to match Fritz’s, and more front-court nous and variety than the 28-year-old American. — Ava Wallace, New York Times, 5 July 2026 The assessment contradicts Western conventional wisdom that Moscow has approached the conflict more as a meat grinder than with strategic nous. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 8 Oct. 2025 Alonso's coaching career has been turbocharged by his impressive tactical nous, which was the driving factor in the success of a Bayer Leverkusen side substantially less well-resourced than its rivals. — Zak Garner-Purkis, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025 He's credited Pep Guardiola for his tactical nous in the past, but that doesn't explain away Sevilla. — SI.com, 2 Oct. 2019 The industry will have to use its considerable commercial nous to hit its growth targets if Brexit provokes a deep rupture with the EU. — The Economist, 3 May 2018

Recent Examples of Synonyms for nous

Noun

The World Economic Forum calls it financial nihilism — the conclusion that the system no longer rewards prudence, driving a cohort toward crypto bets, prediction markets, and raided retirement accounts.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 6 July 2026
But not necessarily the knowledge, confidence or contacts to take it to next stage of monetization, strike collaborative partnerships or exercise operational prudence.

— Gaurav Sharma, Forbes.com, 30 June 2026

Definition of prudence

Noun

The day prior, on July 13, Zendaya wore vintage Sophia Webster gladiator sandals—further proving that, while Athena may be the goddess of wisdom, Zendaya is the goddess of press tours.

— Rachel Burchfield, InStyle, 15 July 2026
Political theory students still study their practical wisdom, often after devouring centuries of more speculative and theoretical texts.

— Steven Johnson, Washington Post, 14 July 2026

Definition of wisdom

Noun

Nothing will shake you and wake you like having your senses, your assumptions, your very identity overrun by hour upon hour of First Nations music, dancing, ceremony, and vitality on this patch of Apsáalooke (Crow) land.

— Matt Thompson, SPIN, 14 July 2026
SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe.

— Claire Cameron, Scientific American, 14 July 2026

Definition of sense

Noun

Predictive robot intelligence LingBot-VA unifies future video prediction and policy learning within a single autoregressive framework, jointly learning visual dynamics and robot actions.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 13 July 2026
Fourteen ships transited Hormuz on Sunday, four of which were crude oil tankers, a decline of about 60% compared with the 37 vessels that crossed the same day last week, according to data from the trade intelligence firm Kpler.

— Brian Sullivan,Spencer Kimball, CNBC, 13 July 2026