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commonplace - 7 dictionary results
com⋅mon⋅place
[kom-uh
n-pleys] 
–adjective
| 1. | ordinary; undistinguished or uninteresting; without individuality: a commonplace person. |
| 2. | trite; hackneyed; platitudinous: a commonplace remark. |
–noun
| 3. | a well-known, customary, or obvious remark; a trite or uninteresting saying. |
| 4. | anything common, ordinary, or uninteresting. |
| 5. | Archaic. a place or passage in a book or writing noted as important for reference or quotation. |
Origin:
1525–35; trans. of L locus commūnis, itself trans. of Gk koinòs tópos
1525–35; trans. of L locus commūnis, itself trans. of Gk koinòs tópos
Related forms:
com⋅mon⋅place⋅ly, adverb
com⋅mon⋅place⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
2. Commonplace, banal, hackneyed, stereotyped, trite describe words, remarks, and styles of expression that are lifeless and uninteresting. Commonplace characterizes thought that is dull, ordinary, and platitudinous: commonplace and boring. Something is banal that seems inane, insipid, and pointless: a heavy-handed and banal affirmation of the obvious. Hackneyed characterizes something that seems stale and worn out through overuse: a hackneyed comparison. Stereotyped emphasizes the fact that situations felt to be similar invariably call for the same thought in exactly the same form and the same words: so stereotyped as to seem automatic. Trite describes something that was originally striking and apt, but which has become so well-known and been so commonly used that all interest has been worn out of it: true but trite. 3. cliché, bromide, platitude, stereotype.
2. Commonplace, banal, hackneyed, stereotyped, trite describe words, remarks, and styles of expression that are lifeless and uninteresting. Commonplace characterizes thought that is dull, ordinary, and platitudinous: commonplace and boring. Something is banal that seems inane, insipid, and pointless: a heavy-handed and banal affirmation of the obvious. Hackneyed characterizes something that seems stale and worn out through overuse: a hackneyed comparison. Stereotyped emphasizes the fact that situations felt to be similar invariably call for the same thought in exactly the same form and the same words: so stereotyped as to seem automatic. Trite describes something that was originally striking and apt, but which has become so well-known and been so commonly used that all interest has been worn out of it: true but trite. 3. cliché, bromide, platitude, stereotype.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To commonplace
| com·mon·place (kŏm'ən-plās') adj. Having no remarkable features, characteristics, or traits; ordinary. n.
[Translation of Latin locus commūnis, generally applicable literary passage, translation of Greek koinos topos.] com'mon·place'ness n. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Commonplace
Com"mon*place`\, a. Common; ordinary; trite; as, a commonplace person, or observation.Commonplace
Com"mon*place`\, n. 1. An idea or expression wanting originality or interest; a trite or customary remark; a platitude. 2. A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to. Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace. --Swift. Commonplace book, a book in which records are made of things to be remembered.Commonplace
Com"mon*place`\, v. t. To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads. --Felton.Commonplace
Com"mon*place`\, v. i. To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes. [Obs.] --Bacon.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : commonplace
Spanish:
común, corriente,
German:
uninteressant,
Japanese:
平凡な
commonplace (n.)
1549, "a statement generally accepted," lit. translation of L. locus communis, from Gk. koinos topos "general topic." The adj. sense of "having nothing original" dates from 1609.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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