English

Alternative forms

• book learning

Noun

book-learning ‎(uncountable)

1. Knowledge acquired from reading books, as opposed to knowledge gained through experience or feeling; theoretical or academic knowledge as opposed to practical or common-sensical knowledge.
   • 1841, Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge, chapter 29:

     They are like some wise men, who, learning to know each planet by its Latin name, have quite forgotten such small heavenly constellations as Charity, Forbearance, Universal Love, and Mercy . . . and who, looking upward at the spangled sky, see nothing there but the reflection of their own great wisdom and book-learning.

   • 1909, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea, ch. 30:

     "That's what college ought to be for, instead of for turning out a lot of B.A.'s, so chock full of book-learning and vanity that there ain't room for anything else."

Usage notes

• Often used with the negative connotation that such knowledge is incomplete or unhelpful.

Synonyms

• booklore