mother wit
Inborn common sense
Mother wit is natural intelligence or common sense—the practical shrewdness you're born with rather than what you learn from books.
The term suggests wisdom that comes instinctively, like nourishment from a mother: He never went to college, but he had enough mother wit to build a successful business.
The expression is somewhat old-fashioned but still appears in folk sayings and Southern American speech.
Native practical judgment
- good senseRational, practical thinking
- sensiblenessPractical good judgment
- levelheadednessMental steadiness amid chaos
- practicalityQuality of being useful
soundness · sanity · gumption · horse sense · street smarts · pragmatism · realism · clear-headedness
Instinctive sense about something
- instinctInnate behavioral tendency
- sixth senseExtrasensory perception ability
- hunchUnproven inner sense
- insightDeep perceptive understanding
Shrewd perceptiveness
- canninessShrewd practical intelligence
- sharpnessKeenness of edge, mind, or image
- keennessSharpness of perception
- savvyPractical shrewdness
cleverness · resourcefulness · craftiness · wiliness · slyness · street-smart · cunning · artfulness
common sense
Native practical judgment
- good senseRational, practical thinking
- sensiblenessPractical good judgment
- levelheadednessMental steadiness amid chaos
practicality · soundness · sanity · gumption · horse sense · street smarts · pragmatism · realism · clear-headedness · down-to-earth
gut feeling
Instinctive sense about something
- instinctInnate behavioral tendency
- sixth senseExtrasensory perception ability
- hunchUnproven inner sense
astuteness
Shrewd perceptiveness
- canninessShrewd practical intelligence
- sharpnessKeenness of edge, mind, or image
- keennessSharpness of perception
savvy · cleverness · resourcefulness · craftiness · wiliness · slyness · street-smart · cunning · artfulness · foxiness
innate ability
Capability possessed from birth
- judgmentgood judgment, sound judgment, discernment, prudence, judiciousness
- mom wisdom
- dispositionsdisposition, predisposition, inclination, tendency, propensity
- wisdomwisdom, sagacity, sapience, discernment, insight
- sayings about motherhoodmama bear, mom guilt, empty nest, supermom, mommy brain
- Black ChurchBaptist church, gospel choir, pastor, preacher, deacons
mother witbook learning
Knowledge from study
formal education · schooling · book smarts · scholarship · erudition
mother witabstract reasoning
Thought using concepts alone
pedantry · book smarts · rote learning · intellectualism · scholasticism
mother, wit, mothers, mothered, mothering, motherly, motherhood, wits, witty