commonplace

[ kom-uhn-pleys ]
See synonyms for: commonplacecommonplaceness on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. ordinary; undistinguished or uninteresting; without individuality: a commonplace person.

  2. trite; hackneyed; platitudinous: a commonplace remark.

noun
  1. a well-known, customary, or obvious remark; a trite or uninteresting saying.

  2. anything common, ordinary, or uninteresting.

  1. Archaic. a place or passage in a book or writing noted as important for reference or quotation.

Origin of commonplace

1
1525–35; translation of Latin locus commūnis, itself translation of Greek koinòs tópos

synonym study For commonplace

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.

Other words for commonplace

Other words from commonplace

  • com·mon·place·ly, adverb
  • com·mon·place·ness, noun
  • un·com·mon·place, adjective

Words Nearby commonplace

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use commonplace in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for commonplace

commonplace

/ (ˈkɒmənˌpleɪs) /


adjective
  1. ordinary; everyday: commonplace duties

  2. dull and obvious; trite: commonplace prose

noun
  1. something dull and trite, esp a remark; platitude; truism

  2. a passage in a book marked for inclusion in a commonplace book, etc

  1. an ordinary or common thing

Origin of commonplace

1
C16: translation of Latin locus commūnis argument of wide application, translation of Greek koinos topos

Derived forms of commonplace

  • commonplaceness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012