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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100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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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:
Sodha says that limiting each plant to 750ml of water a day produces "rich, highly concentrated sugars and aromas instead of water-logged, bland fruits".
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Under the proposals, packging would need to be bland, with limits on what imagery and branding could be used.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
More than this, Washington was not a beautiful man, but rather colorless, pockmarked, bland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Some enjoy their khichuri bland, with no vegetables or seasonings.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
Josie looked closely at the woman, looking past the bland nanny tunic for the first time.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The boys were identified Monday as 10-year-old brothers, Bland said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 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 know he has a track record,” said Valerie Bland, a 63-year-old former port worker from Long Beach, as she watched Villaraigosa work the pews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 16, 2026
They set it in the water and a moment later Bland came out, with the sculls.
From "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner
Pressure from these investors may also add to the US app feeling "blander" said Mr Navarra.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2025
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
And the sidewalks in the borough just seem blander.
From New York Times ● Jul. 24, 2022
Those “unnatural” feeds make chickens with mushier and blander meat.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Temperatures are dropping, grocery prices keep climbing, and there’s a small, almost alchemical satisfaction in transforming the blandest, cheapest grain in the aisle into a breakfast worth lingering over.
From Salon ● Nov. 13, 2025
Cameron’s “As You Grow,” a story about caring for others, is the blandest of the bunch.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 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
Open Google Maps, find a place that is not a place but, rather, on the way to other places, and select the blandest hotel you can find.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 18, 2019
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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
