street smarts
Practical worldly knowledge
Street smarts is practical intelligence gained through experience in urban environments rather than formal education.
It includes knowing how to navigate tricky situations, read people's intentions, and avoid danger: Book smarts won't help you here—you need street smarts.
The term often contrasts with academic knowledge, suggesting a savvy that can't be taught in classrooms.
Native practical judgment
- pragmatismPractical problem-solving philosophy
- know-howPractical ability to accomplish
- life hacksClever productivity shortcuts
- shortcutsQuicker methods or paths
workarounds · improvisation · making do · jury-rigging · problem-solving · loopholes · bargaining · haggling
Practically clever, perceptive
- astuteMentally sharp, discerning
- cannyShrewdly practical and cautious
- wilySkilled at deception
- craftyCleverly deceptive
sly · calculating · scheming · guile · hustle · conniving · manipulative · opportunistic
Perception of surroundings
- alertnessActive mental awareness
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- perceptionMental interpretation of stimuli
- instinctsInnate behavioral tendencies
intuition · body language · danger sense · hypervigilance · observant · watchful · attentive · scanning
Depending on oneself alone
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
- adaptabilityAbility to adjust readily
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
- gritDetermination or abrasive particles
toughness · hustle · scrappiness · self-defense · evasion · escape routes · blending in · laying low
common sense
Native practical judgment
- pragmatismPractical problem-solving philosophy
- know-howPractical ability to accomplish
- life hacksClever productivity shortcuts
shortcuts · workarounds · improvisation · making do · jury-rigging · problem-solving · loopholes · bargaining · haggling · bartering
shrewd
Practically clever, perceptive
crafty · sly · calculating · scheming · guile · hustle · conniving · manipulative · opportunistic · slick
situational awareness
Perception of surroundings
- alertnessActive mental awareness
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- perceptionMental interpretation of stimuli
instincts · intuition · body language · danger sense · hypervigilance · observant · watchful · attentive · scanning · gut feeling
self-reliance
Depending on oneself alone
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
- adaptabilityAbility to adjust readily
- resilienceCapacity to recover quickly
grit · toughness · hustle · scrappiness · self-defense · evasion · escape routes · blending in · laying low · loyalty
neighborhood
Residential area nearby
subway · bodega · stoop · projects · ghetto · barrio · favela · hood · backstreets · downtown
- life skillsreading, writing, cooking, cleaning, laundry
- informal knowledgefolk wisdom, old wives tales, hearsay, gossip, rumors
- intelligenceIQ, memory, bright, clever, wise
- practical knowledgefolk medicine, home economics, self-help, common sense, folk wisdom
- judgmentgood judgment, sound judgment, discernment, prudence, judiciousness
- street smartssavvy, resourceful, resourcefulness, cunning, shrewd
street smartsbook smarts
Intelligence from formal learning
book learning · formal education · classroom learning · erudition · abstract reasoning
street smartsgullibility
Ease of being deceived
innocence · unworldliness · cluelessness · obliviousness · born yesterday