Definition

Noun Phrase: - The manner in which people typically behave or things typically happen; the customary, often cynical or pragmatic, state of human affairs and society. It refers to the accepted, sometimes disappointing, norms of life and human behavior.

Usage

This phrase is used to comment on a situation, often one perceived as unfair, disappointing, or cynical, but which is accepted as being normal or inevitable in human society.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• Used to express resignation or acceptance of a generally unchangeable societal reality.
  • "It's not fair, but it's the way of the world," she said with a sigh.

Variants and Related Words

• The ways of the world (plural form): Knowledge or experience of worldly affairs.
  • His travels taught him the ways of the world.

Synonyms

• The nature of things
• The course of human events
• The state of affairs
• The lay of the land (idiomatic)

Related Idioms

• That's life: A more casual expression for accepting typical disappointments.
• It is what it is: A modern phrase expressing resigned acceptance of reality.

Noun

1. the manner in which people typically behave or things typically happen
   • the ordinary reader is endowed with considerable wisdom and knowledge of the way of the world
   • she was well-versed in the ways of the world before she had taken the veil
   • he was amazingly innocent of the ways of the world