conventional wisdom

conventional wisdom (usually uncountable, plural conventional wisdoms)

1. A belief or set of beliefs that is widely accepted, especially one which may be questionable on close examination.
   • 1958, John Kenneth Galbraith, The Affluent Society:

     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.

   • 1971, “Week’s Watch,” Time, 17 May,

     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.

• received wisdom

• idée reçue