mundane

[muhn-deyn, muhn-deyn]

adjective

1. common; ordinary; banal; unimaginative.

2. of or relating to this world or earth as contrasted with heaven; worldly; earthly.

   mundane affairs.

   Synonyms: temporal, secular

3. of or relating to the world, universe, or earth.

mundane

/ ˈmʌndeɪn, mʌnˈdeɪn /

adjective

1. everyday, ordinary, or banal

2. relating to the world or worldly matters

Other Word Forms

• mundanely adverb
• mundaneness noun
• mundanity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of mundane¹

First recorded in 1425–75; from Latin mundānus, equivalent to mund(us) “world” + -ānus -ane; replacing late Middle English mondeyne, from Middle French mondain, from Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of mundane¹

C15: from French mondain, via Late Latin, from Latin mundus world

Synonym Study

See earthly.

Example Sentences

The goal was a book about the great mundane, the stuff of life as experienced by her talented confidants.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After being delayed by revolutions, wars, a pandemic and mundane financial setbacks, the museum’s opening has been welcomed here with something close to euphoria.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The incident rate is only slightly above the EU average, but the tragedies regularly make the news, appearing from the outside to be the result of mundane mistakes.

Read more on Barron's

AI might even let you spend more time doing the parts of your job you enjoy and less on mundane tasks.

Read more on MarketWatch

To that end, before “Welcome to Derry” resurfaces the internet’s favorite scary clown, it foregrounds the ways that small-town charm can be an effective mask for the mundane evils we confront every day.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• banal 
• day-to-day 
• everyday 
• humdrum 
• normal 
• prosaic 
• workaday