wisdom

A particular or singular thing that someone has written or said which is especially wise, sagacious, or informative. Can also be used sarcastically to imply that what is said is banal, useless, or uninformative. My uncle loves to give advice, and he's never short of little nuggets of wisdom whenever we go to visit him. Thanks for that nugget of wisdom, Jeff. I'm sure sunbathing tips will really come in handy in Iceland!

Knowledge gained from experience and everyday life. My dad never finished college, but he has much more worldly wisdom than I do, as a perpetual student.

To reach an age or state of maturity. I think that we should hire an older, more experienced candidate, one who has already cut her wisdom teeth.

Most wisdom is gained by experiencing different things (compared to acquiring knowledge through schooling or other means). A few years ago, I couldn't even get behind the wheel without having panic attacks, but, with practice, I'm much calmer and can drive with no problems. Experience is the mother of wisdom after all.

A piece of valuable advice. The phrase is sometimes used sarcastically. The old woman shared her pearls of wisdom with the struggling teen, in the hopes of making him feel better. Thanks for the pearl of wisdom, buddy, but your suggestion is ridiculous.

Prov. The more that happens to you, the more you will learn. I never understood why supervisors got so frustrated with me until I became a supervisor and got frustrated with my subordinates. Experience was definitely the mother of wisdom, in my case.

using your or its knowledge or intelligence The city government, in its wisdom, decided to close the library and now kids can't use it for research or just plain reading. When I said we needed a bigger house, my wife replied, in her infinite wisdom, that we did not have enough money.

an important piece of advice Thank you for that pearl of wisdom, Jerry. Now do you think you could suggest something more useful?

something that you say when you do not understand why someone has done something and think that it was a stupid action The council, in their wisdom, decided to close the library and now the building stands empty.

knowledge or information that people generally believe is true, although in fact it is often false The conventional wisdom is that marriage makes a relationship more secure, but as the divorce rates show, this is not necessarily true.

A widely held belief on which most people act. For example, According to conventional wisdom, an incumbent nearly always wins more votes than a new candidate . This term was invented by John Kenneth Galbraith, who used it in The Affluent Society (1958) to describe economic ideas that are familiar, predictable, and therefore accepted by the general public. Today it is used in any context where public opinion has considerable influence on the course of events.