Meaning & use
wisdom
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Meanings
noununcountable
The deep good sense that lets a person judge well what is right or sensible, usually gained through years of experience.
Grammar: No plural and no article: she has great wisdom.
Patterns
- have the wisdom to do something
- the wisdom of something
- with wisdom
Her grandmother's wisdom guided the whole family through hard times.
He had the wisdom to walk away from the argument.
Wisdom often comes only after we make mistakes.
noununcountable
Knowledge, beliefs or sayings that a community has gathered over many generations and passes on.
Grammar: Often appears in the phrase conventional wisdom or folk wisdom.
Patterns
- conventional wisdom
- the wisdom of the ancients
The proverb carries centuries of folk wisdom.
Conventional wisdom says you should save part of every paycheck.
The elders shared the tribe's wisdom around the fire.
noununcountable
The quality of being sensible or well advised in a particular plan or choice.
Grammar: Used with of or about in questions: doubt the wisdom of a plan.
Patterns
- question the wisdom of something
- doubt the wisdom of doing something
Many people questioned the wisdom of building so close to the river.
I doubt the wisdom of lending him more money.
Nobody can deny the wisdom of her decision to wait.
Common combinations
- conventional wisdom
- Conventional wisdom suggests that early risers are more productive.
- words of wisdom
- The old teacher left us with a few words of wisdom.
- pearls of wisdom
- He dropped pearls of wisdom between jokes.
- question the wisdom of
- Critics questioned the wisdom of raising prices.
- wisdom teeth
- She had her wisdom teeth removed last summer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- insight
- Insight is a flash of clear understanding about one thing, while wisdom is a lasting quality of judgment.
- prudence
- Prudence is careful caution about risk, whereas wisdom covers broader good judgment about life.
- sagacity
- Sagacity is a rarer, more literary word that stresses sharp practical judgment.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: wisdom or knowledge? wisdom or intelligence?
wisdom vs knowledge
Knowledge is facts and information you hold, while wisdom is knowing how to use them well.
wisdom vs intelligence
Intelligence is the ability to learn and reason quickly, while wisdom grows from experience and judgment.
Practice
Having lived through two recessions, Maria had the ___ to avoid risky investments.
Choose one answer.
Wisdom is sound judgment from experience, so she avoids risk. Fortune would suggest luck, and the others do not complete the pattern the wisdom to do something.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wisdom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.