banal

[buh-nal, -nahl, beyn-l]

adjective

1. devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite.

   a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier.

banal

/ bəˈnælɪtɪ, bəˈnɑːl /

adjective

1. lacking force or originality; trite; commonplace

Other Word Forms

• banality noun
• banally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of banal¹

First recorded in 1745–55; from French, Old French: “pertaining to a ban”; equivalent to ban ² + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of banal¹

C18: from Old French: relating to compulsory feudal service, hence common to all, commonplace; from ban _ban ²

Synonym Study

See commonplace.

Example Sentences

There seemed to be something basic or banal about whiling away hours in the gym.

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Like so much of her career, Deen’s plea for forgiveness was outsized and totally singular, so much so that it became fodder to convey the brief intensity of an otherwise banal annoyance.

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Yet in extraordinary times the constant juxtaposition of the banal and the monstrous becomes surreal.

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Typically, our reasons for staying in a battle against crushing odds are soft, even banal, but universally defensible.

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But here in China - where almost half of all cars sold last year were electric - it's a banal reality.

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Related Words

• bland 
• corny 
• dumb 
• hackneyed 
• mundane 
• stupid 
• trite 
• vapid