generic

American  

[juh-ner-ik] / dʒəˈnɛr ɪk /

adjective

1. of, applicable to, or referring to all the members of a genus, class, group, or kind; not specific; general.

   Synonyms:

   universal, common

   Antonyms:

   specific

2. of, relating to, or noting a genus especially in biology.

3. (of a word) applicable or referring to both men and women.

   a generic pronoun.

4. not protected by trademark registration.

   “Cola” and “shuttle” are generic terms.

   Synonyms:

   unbranded

5. having no distinguishing characteristics; commonplace.

   There are a lot of generic interviews, and the lack of unique perspective you get from interviewers is somewhat shocking.

---

noun

1. something that is generic.

2. any product, as a type of food, drug, or cosmetic commonly marketed under a brand name, that is sold in a package without a brand.

3. a wine made from two or more varieties of grapes, with no one grape constituting more than half the product (distinguished from varietal).

generic British  

/ dʒɪˈnɛrɪk /

adjective

1. applicable or referring to a whole class or group; general

2. biology of, relating to, or belonging to a genus

   the generic name

3. denoting the nonproprietary name of a drug, food product, etc

---

noun

1. a drug, food product, etc that does not have a trademark

Other Word Forms

• genericalness
  noun
• nongeneric
  adjective
• nongenerical
  adjective
• pseudogeneric
  adjective
• pseudogenerical
  adjective
• supergeneric
  adjective
• ungeneric
  adjective
• ungenerical
  adjective
• generically
  adverb
• nongenerically
  adverb
• pseudogenerically
  adverb
• supergenerically
  adverb
• ungenerically
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of generic

First recorded in 1670–80; from Latin gener- ( see gender ¹) + -ic

---

Explanation

Generic refers to the members of a whole class of things — like "tissue," a generic word for any soft, thin piece of paper that's good for wiping runny noses. A generic product, whether it's a tire or donut or drug, is typical of all other products like it. There's nothing distinctive or unique about it. A generic fan looks and acts just like dozens of other fans — it doesn't spin backwards or send out sparks. Generic aspirin doesn't have a trademark, like Bayer or St. Joseph: it's just plain aspirin.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

generic

Warner Bros had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed on appeal, arguing the shows shared only "generic similarities" common to "any dramatic story involving emergency room doctors".

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

Bristol Myers said its growth portfolio revenue increase was driven by Opdivo Qvantig, Breyanzi, Reblozyl, Camzyos and Opdualag, while its legacy portfolio revenue was weighed down by expected continued generic impacts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

“No one’s gonna be stoked to find out it’s just a generic white guy from Florida,” Rispoli, 41, said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

At the land border with Benin, health forms were generic, asking about fevers but not mentioning Ebola and without temperature checks, an AFP reporter observed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026

And if one were just too pathetic, forlorn, and unremembered, one could always scrounge up some decade-old, generic canned fruit cocktail from the depths of the basement pantry.

From "Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie" by Jordan Sonnenblick

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• universal

---