Meaning & use
being street smart
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformal
The quality of being good at dealing with the dangers and tricks of city life.
Grammar: Used like a noun phrase after 'is' or 'means': Being street smart helps you stay safe.
Patterns
- being street smart
- being street smart about something
Being street smart means you know which areas to avoid at night.
She grew up in a big city, so being street smart comes naturally to her.
Being street smart is just as important as getting good grades.
adjectivenot comparableinformal
Having the practical knowledge to handle difficult or dishonest situations in everyday life.
Grammar: Used after 'be' or before a noun: He is street smart. / a street-smart teenager.
Patterns
- be street smart
- a street-smart person
You have to be street smart when you travel alone.
He is street smart enough to know when a deal sounds too good to be true.
Common combinations
- being street smart about money
- Being street smart about money helped him avoid a scam.
- grow up street smart
- Kids who grow up street smart learn to read people quickly.
- street smart and book smart
- She is both street smart and book smart, which is rare.
Synonyms and how they differ
- streetwise
- Means the same but is more common in British English and slightly more formal.
- worldly
- Describes broad experience of life, not just the practical knowledge of city dangers.
Opposites
Word family
- street smarts noun
- The practical knowledge of city life.
Commonly confused: being street smart or book smart?
being street smart vs book smart
'Book smart' means good at school subjects and exams, while 'street smart' is about handling real-life situations.
Practice
After living in the city for years, she became very _____ and knew how to avoid trouble.
Choose one answer.
'Street smart' is the adjective that describes a person who knows how to handle city dangers. 'Book smart' is the opposite idea, 'street smarts' is a noun, and 'smartly' is an adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “being street smart”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.