conventional wisdom
noun1
Usually A belief or set of beliefs that is widely accepted, especially one which may be questionable on close examination.
- It will be convenient to have a name for the ideas which are esteemed at any time for their acceptability, and it should be a term that emphasizes this predictability. I shall refer to these ideas henceforth as the conventional wisdom.1958, John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society:
- So many Americans accept “zero population growth” as a new canon of conventional wisdom that it comes as a surprise to hear the notion disputed.1971 May 17, “Week’s Watch”, in Time:
2 more examples
- Well, during our short staycation at Humberston Fitties, just south of Cleethorpes, we cycled through the very unspoilt Lincolnshire Wolds, which are by no means flat and boring as conventional wisdom about the county suggests.2021 July 28, Christian Wolmar, “Forgotten by the railways, but ripe for the exploring”, in RAIL, number 936, page 35:
- Though conventional wisdom has held that stringing out the war would favor Russia, it also carries risks for Mr. Putin, doing more damage to his economy and bringing more Western weaponry to bear[…]2022 August 26, Andrew E. Kramer, Anton Troianovski, Helene Cooper, “Ukraine Weighs a Risky Offensive to Break Out of a Stalemate”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- Synonyms
- received wisdom
- Related terms
- antiproverb, as the man says, common knowledge, common sense, idée reçue