How to Use street-smart in a Sentence

street-smart

adjective
  • Again, book-smart, not street-smart.
    — John Werner, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The result is a perfectly balanced look that feels effortless, chic, and completely street-smart.
    — Amanda Le, InStyle, 4 Mar. 2026
  • His character of the same name was a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia, where he was born and raised.
    — Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 5 Nov. 2025
  • In a recurring role, Martin will play Booker, a street-smart criminal.
    — Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Yet there’s something disarming about how Riley’s sense of play holds this street-smart meta-rebellion fantasy together.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Mar. 2026
  • At first, this looks like just another mismatched cop thriller, with Denzel as the street-smart veteran teaching young pup Ethan Hawke a few tricks.
    — Tim Grierson, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
  • In the show, a street-smart Neapolitan hustler inherits a remote estate in Finnish Lapland.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
  • Smith joined the iconic '90s sitcom as the outspoken, street-smart Lena James during the show's penultimate season.
    — Shania Russell, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Mar. 2026
  • After a traumatic, near-fatal incident, her young, street-smart detective made some messy choices outside of work that spilled into her professional life.
    — Allison Degrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Olivia Brown played Trudy Joplin, Gina’s equally street-smart partner who’s a bit more sensitive to the realities of the job.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Following Tiffany’s departure, Tanya Roberts’ street-smart former model Julie joined the agency and remained through the conclusion of the series.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 24 June 2026
  • Tyler Perry loves his broad comedies, many revolving around his most enduring character, Madea, the blunt, street-smart, occasionally violent grandmother with a heart of gold.
    — Rodney Ho, AJC.com, 20 Feb. 2026
  • Since the film is a little over 90 minutes, our street-smart detective, who has relied on his gut and the terrifyingly invasive AI tools throughout the trial, is finally liberated from the chair in the third act, as the twisty-turny tale morphs into an attack on Mercy itself.
    — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2026
  • Since the film is a little over 90 minutes, our street-smart Detective Raven, who has relied on his gut and the terrifyingly invasive AI tools throughout the trial, is finally liberated from the chair in the third act, as the twisty-turny tale morphs into an attack on Mercy itself.
    — Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Garry Marshall's flick spins a modern Cinderella story starring Julia Roberts as the scrappy, street-smart escort Vivian and Richard Gere as leverage buyout executive Edward, who offers her a taste of the high life in exchange for her company at social gatherings.
    — James Mercadante, EW.com, 14 Aug. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'street-smart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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