Tacit Knowledge
Skills, insights, and know-how that people possess but can't easily put into words or formal documentation—the stuff you learn by doing, not reading.
Knowledge, skills, and experiences held by individuals that are difficult or impossible to codify, document, or articulate explicitly. Often acquired through practice, observation, and experience rather than formal instruction, tacit knowledge is typically transferred through direct interaction, mentorship, or apprenticeship. People may not consciously recognize they possess it.
What this means in real life
A master chef knows exactly when bread dough is ready to bake by touch and smell, but struggles to write down precise rules. A new cook learns this only by working alongside them, not from a recipe.
What it isn’t
Not the same as 'common sense' or 'intuition'—tacit knowledge is real, learnable expertise built through experience, not innate gut feeling or obvious reasoning anyone would naturally have.
Commonly misused online
Often conflated with 'secret knowledge' or 'hidden wisdom'—people use it to mean deliberately withheld information, when it actually just means hard-to-articulate expertise that exists whether or not anyone tries to hide it.
Based on 1 reference source, including Wikipedia. Last verified July 16, 2026.