Meaning & use
a lick of sense
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
Any amount of good judgment at all, used in negative statements to mean almost none.
Grammar: Fixed phrase; it usually follows not have or a question with any, as in He doesn't have a lick of sense.
Patterns
- not have a lick of sense
- without a lick of sense
- does anyone have a lick of sense?
He doesn't have a lick of sense when it comes to money.
You'd think someone with a lick of sense would read the instructions first.
She wondered whether anyone in the room had a lick of sense.
Common combinations
- not have a lick of sense
- The new assistant doesn't have a lick of sense about office rules.
- without a lick of sense
- He drove off without a lick of sense about where he was going.
- anyone with a lick of sense
- Anyone with a lick of sense would have checked the weather first.
Synonyms and how they differ
- common sense
- Common sense is the neutral, positive term for good practical judgment; a lick of sense is informal and almost always negative.
- good judgment
- This is a formal, neutral phrase; a lick of sense is much more casual and critical.
Word family
Commonly confused: a lick of sense or a lick of paint?
a lick of sense vs a lick of paint
A lick of paint means a quick fresh coat of paint, not good judgment, though both use lick in a fixed phrase.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'a lick of sense' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase means almost no good judgment and is used in negative statements like doesn't have a lick of sense. Option 0 and option 3 confuse it with a lick of paint, and option 2 treats lick as a literal action.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a lick of sense”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.