bland
adjective
pleasantly gentle or agreeable.
bland
1 American
[bland]
/ blænd /
adjective
-
blander,
comparative
-
blandest
superlative
-
pleasantly gentle or agreeable.
a bland, affable manner.
-
soothing or balmy, as air.
a bland southern breeze.
- Antonyms:
- harsh
-
nonirritating, as food or medicines.
a bland diet.
- Antonyms:
- irritating
-
not highly flavored; mild; tasteless.
a bland sauce.
-
lacking in special interest, liveliness, individuality, etc.; insipid; dull.
a bland young man; a bland situation comedy.
-
unemotional, indifferent, or casual.
his bland acknowledgment of guilt.
Bland
2
American
[bland]
/ blænd /
noun
bland
British
/ blænd /
adjective
-
devoid of any distinctive or stimulating characteristics; uninteresting; dull
bland food
-
gentle and agreeable; suave
-
(of the weather) mild and soothing
-
unemotional or unmoved
a bland account of atrocities
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of bland
First recorded in 1590–1600, bland is from the Latin word blandus of a smooth tongue, pleasant, soothing
Explanation
When you have a nasty cold and you’re very congested, food can taste unappealingly bland. That means dull, flavorless, or just plain “blah.” Bland comes to us from the Latin word blandus, meaning “mild, smooth, flattering, alluring.” Funny, because today you wouldn't say there's anything "alluring" about something bland. People still use bland to mean pleasant and tranquil, but it more often has a negative connotation. Use it to describe plain old oatmeal before you’ve added brown sugar and berries to it, or to depict the forgettable, uninteresting personality of the lunch lady who served it to you.
Vocabulary lists containing bland
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"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She also recommends keeping dried herbs, spices and salt available as, she says, tinned food can be slightly bland.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
But the AI companies prefer the bland, vague aligned and nonaligned.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Speaking of unwatchable, if you’re over the age of, say, 11, feel free to skip the utterly generic and bland “The Mandalorian and Grogo,” the worst “Star Wars” spinoff movie yet.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
What’s getting attention, however, is not bland, consultant-approved talk about the price of groceries.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
The minister ran through the service fast, his bland face tinted green beneath the canopy.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Richard Bland is currently the only player to have stated publicly a desire to play on LIV 2.0.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
“We evacuated out of an abundance of caution,” Bland said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Veteran Englishman Richard Bland cashed in on the romance of his one DP World Tour victory, the 2021 British Masters, which effectively earned him an invitation to play LIV tournaments.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
Cameron Smith and Sergio Garcia each received $131,625 for a share of 40th place and Richard Bland pocketed $126,000 for coming 46th out of 57.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
“I’ll find it. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Tell Mrs Bland I’m sorry I spoiled her party.”
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
The question then is whether children will still bother with them, once they are deliberately toned down into a much blander offering.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Because the problem is that the better you get, the more sort of blander it gets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
Consumers, bored by the softer, blander Red Delicious variety that had ruled grocery aisles for decades, discovered an apple that was sweet and so texturally satisfying they never looked back.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2025
The flavors of zucchini and yellow summer squash are similar, with the yellow versions being a little blander, and sometimes less firm in texture.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 27, 2023
Those “unnatural” feeds make chickens with mushier and blander meat.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Mr. Mungiu, who has a stark, forthright style—no bludgeoning the audience with musical cues, no zingy dialogue—lets this life-upending moment play out in the blandest way imaginable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Somebody asked Jay Leno, late-night’s blandest clown, to share his opinions concerning late-night’s decline.
From Salon ● Jul. 31, 2025
NFL coaches are the blandest leaders in sports, and they’ve been intentional about building that reputation.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2023
By contrast, Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly described the opening scene as "the blandest possible orientation, Epic Fantasy for Dummies" and said the good news is that "the beginning is the worst part."
From Reuters ● Aug. 19, 2022
Those self-important women gained local immortality for the blandest, the most timid of eccentricities—walking a cat on a dog’s lead, riding about on a man’s bike, being seen with a sandwich in the street.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
