street smarts

American

plural noun

Informal.

shrewd awareness of how to survive or succeed in any situation, especially as a result of living or working in a difficult environment, as a city ghetto neighborhood.

Etymology

Origin of street smarts

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s essentially the difference between book smarts and street smarts.

From MarketWatch

Common sense, street smarts, the ability to communicate with people and have people respect you and like you and want to work with you.

From The Wall Street Journal

It made me realize that I had book knowledge in a situation that demanded street smarts.

From The Wall Street Journal

The camp, Mistro said, has taught them an essential skill: “Just like street smarts, we want them to have ocean smarts.”

From Los Angeles Times

“He has street smarts and is very populist.”

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023