conventional

[ kuh n-ven-shuh-nl ]

/ kənˈvɛn ʃə nl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conventional ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

conforming or adhering to accepted standards, as of conduct or taste: conventional behavior.

pertaining to convention or general agreement; established by general consent or accepted usage; arbitrarily determined: conventional symbols.

ordinary rather than different or original: conventional phraseology.

not using, making, or involving nuclear weapons or energy; nonnuclear: conventional warfare.

Art.

in accordance with an accepted manner, model, or tradition.
(of figurative art) represented in a generalized or simplified manner.

of or relating to a convention, agreement, or compact.

Law. resting on consent, express or implied.

of or relating to a convention or assembly.

Nearby words

convenient, convent, conventicle, convention, convention center, conventional, conventional sign, conventional thoracoplasty, conventional weapon, conventional wisdom, conventionalism

Origin of conventional

From the Late Latin word conventiōnālis, dating back to 1575–85. See convention, -al¹

SYNONYMS FOR conventional

1 See formal¹.

2 usual, habitual, customary.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR conventional ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

con·ven·tion·al·ist, nouncon·ven·tion·al·ly, adverban·ti·con·ven·tion·al, adjectivean·ti·con·ven·tion·al·ly, adverb

an·ti·con·ven·tion·al·ist, noun, adjectivenon·con·ven·tion·al, adjectivenon·con·ven·tion·al·ly, adverbqua·si-con·ven·tion·al, adjectivequa·si-con·ven·tion·al·ly, adverbsem·i·con·ven·tion·al, adjectivesem·i·con·ven·tion·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for conventional

Many Jewish women have been accepted as conventional, mainstream hot.
Why Was Bess Myerson the First and Last Jewish Miss America?|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The end of conventional childbirth might only be a matter of time.
Men Will Someday Have Kids Without Women|Samantha Allen|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
They double down on the plot device of a lone visionary opposed by conventional hierarchies.
Why Can’t Movies Capture Genius?|Clive Irving|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Enter the iSpoon, a conventional stirrer on one end and a tablet stylus on the other.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Richard Hendriks in Your Life|Allison McNearney|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Conventional wisdom holds that most excessive drinkers are alcohol dependent.
Americans Drink Too Much, But We’re Not All Alcoholics|Gabrielle Glaser|November 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In no insignificant number of cases the vote is a cover by which revolutionary demands can be given a conventional front.
A Preface to Politics|Walter Lippmann
No conventional and hideous hat or bonnet disfigures the neat outline of their heads.
A War-time Journal, Germany 1914 and German Travel Notes|Harriet Julia Jephson
His restless eyes held hers, but his greeting was conventional.
The Strollers|Frederic S. Isham
The conventional idea has been that in the field the only alternatives were fighting and taking it easy.
General Gatacre|Beatrix Gatacre
The conventional type of manual training—one period per week in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades—was not holding the pupils.
The New Education|Scott Nearing

British Dictionary definitions for conventional

conventional

/ (kənˈvɛnʃənəl) /

adjective

following the accepted customs and proprieties, esp in a way that lacks originalityconventional habits

established by accepted usage or general agreement

of or relating to a convention or assembly

law based upon the agreement or consent of parties

arts represented in a simplified or generalized way; conventionalized

(of weapons, warfare, etc) not nuclear

noun

bridge another word for convention (def. 7)

Derived Forms

conventionally, adverb

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