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.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

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 For all of Mansour’s skepticism about conventional wisdom—and being an industry disruptor—his willingness to take risks has put Kalshi in the crosshairs over allegations of insider trading and criticism that its contracts amount to gambling. — Preston Fore, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2026 Lawrence, whose campaign is centered on the economy, opposing AI data centers and keeping money at home instead of funding foreign wars, argues that the conventional wisdom about moderation being the key to electability is all wrong. — Tamara Keith, NPR, 4 Aug. 2026 The conventional wisdom — outside team headquarters here, at least — is that the Commanders need more talent and depth at wide receiver. — Barry Svrluga, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026 DeepSeek challenged the conventional wisdom that developing an advanced AI model requires massive financial investment and vast computing power, and offered competitive pricing. — John Liu, CNN Money, 24 July 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
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee voted by a 12-10 party line vote Tuesday to advance Blanche's nomination for a vote by the full Senate later this week.
    — Allison Pecorin, ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of party line
Noun
  • There are reasons to think this generalization may not be so simple.
    — Mike McRae August 24, New Atlas, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The third is to develop novel variations of your stimuli or your benchmark items in order to test robustness and generalization.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 20 Aug. 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
  • Davis shared her thoughts alongside a side-by-side comparison of the costume with 19th-century minstrel imagery, which perpetuated racist stereotypes about Black Americans and involved the use of blackface.
    — Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Some of the companies illustrating this point hardly fit the stereotype of progressive corporate activism.
    — Scott M. Curran, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of stereotype
Noun
  • Teams cross multiple time zones, adjust practice and sleep schedules and play at a neutral site far from their normal routines.
    — Giovanni Malloy, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
  • As if dating weren’t already enough of a gamble, a new trend has some men skipping their usual hygiene routines before meeting a prospective partner.
    — Teresa Mull, FOXNews.com, 29 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 1 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All