con ‧ sen ‧ sus AC /kənˈsensəs/ BrE AmE noun [singular, uncountable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: from the past participle of consentire ; ⇨ ↑ consent 2 ]
an opinion that everyone in a group agrees with or accepts SYN agreement
consensus on/about
a lack of consensus about the aims of the project
consensus that
There is a consensus among teachers that children should have a broad understanding of the world.
The EU Council of Finance Ministers failed to reach a consensus on the pace of integration.
the current consensus of opinion
The general consensus was that technology was a good thing.
the consensus politics of the fifties
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COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ reach a consensus ( also arrive at a consensus )
The committee found that it was unable to reach a consensus.
▪ achieve a consensus
Will further talks achieve a consensus on the UN peace plan?
▪ build a consensus (=gradually achieve a consensus)
Canada worked on building a consensus among national governments.
▪ a consensus emerges (=is reached after talking about something)
No consensus emerged from these discussions.
■ adjectives
▪ national/international consensus
There was no international consensus on how to deal with the situation.
▪ political/scientific etc consensus
The scientific consensus is that global warming is already occurring.
▪ general consensus
Most decisions are reached by general consensus.
▪ broad consensus (=general)
There is a broad consensus that sport is good for you.
▪ clear consensus (=one that people agree on and understand)
There was no clear consensus about the future direction of the company.
▪ growing consensus (=one that more people are agreeing on)
The growing consensus is that we should focus on economic efficiency.
▪ strong consensus
There is a strong consensus that it is time for a change of leadership.
■ phrases
▪ a consensus of opinion
There are still areas where no consensus of opinion has been reached.
▪ a lack of consensus
Nothing was done because of a lack of consensus on the matter.