noun
worldly wisdom; practical savvy; gumption
Refers to shrewdness in navigating the world, often with a slightly negative nuance of being calculating or street-smart. Commonly used in the phrase 世知辛い (せちがらい), meaning 'the world is harsh' or 'it's a dog-eat-dog world'.
彼は世知に長けていて、どんな状況でもうまく立ち回る。
He is worldly-wise and handles any situation skillfully.
世知辛い世の中だからこそ、人を思いやる気持ちが大切だ。
Precisely because it's a harsh world, compassion for others is important.
noun
Rare, archaic usage referring to a person who is tight-fisted or miserly. Not used in modern Japanese; the meaning is preserved mainly in older texts.
古文書には、世知と評される商人の話が載っている。
In old documents, there is a story about a merchant who was called a miser.
Compound of 世 (world, society) and 知 (knowledge, wisdom). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but it has been used since classical Japanese to denote practical knowledge of worldly affairs.