ordinary
of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional: One novel is brilliant, the other is decidedly ordinary; an ordinary person.
plain or undistinguished: ordinary clothes.
somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre.
Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. common, vulgar, or disreputable.
(of jurisdiction) immediate, as contrasted with something that is delegated.
(of officials) belonging to the regular staff or the fully recognized class.
the commonplace or average condition, degree, etc.: ability far above the ordinary.
something regular, customary, or usual.
Ecclesiastical.
an order or form for divine service, especially that for saying Mass.
the service of the Mass exclusive of the canon.
History/Historical. a member of the clergy appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death.
English Ecclesiastical Law. a bishop, archbishop, or other ecclesiastic or his deputy, in his capacity as an ex officio ecclesiastical authority.
(in some U.S. states) a judge of a court of probate.
British. (in a restaurant or inn) a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service.
a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare.
Heraldry.
any of the simplest and commonest charges, usually having straight or broadly curved edges.
Idioms about ordinary
in ordinary, in regular service: a physician in ordinary to the king.
out of the ordinary,
exceptional; unusual: Having triplets is certainly out of the ordinary.
exceptionally good; unusually good: The food at this restaurant is truly out of the ordinary.
Origin of ordinary
1synonym study For ordinary
Other words for ordinary
Opposites for ordinary
Other words from ordinary
- or·di·nar·i·ness, noun
- qua·si-or·di·nar·y, adjective
- su·per·or·di·nar·y, adjective
- un·or·di·nar·y, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use ordinary in a sentence
According to Heck, meteorite researchers are unlike other scientists in that they rely on ordinary people to recover samples rather than finding them on their own.
Pristine 'fireball’ meteorite contains extraterrestrial organic compounds | Rachael Zisk | October 29, 2020 | Popular-ScienceThe record of this risk to public health, even in ordinary times, is clear.
Health-care workers file lawsuit against OSHA, accusing agency of failing to keep them safe | Eli Rosenberg | October 29, 2020 | Washington PostInformation gets out through the workings of gravity itself — just ordinary gravity with a single layer of quantum effects.
The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End | George Musser | October 29, 2020 | Quanta MagazineIf it were counted as a bonus, it would be taxed like part of the executives’ salaries, at the higher ordinary income tax rate.
Susan Collins Backed Down From a Fight with Private Equity. Now They’re Underwriting Her Reelection. | by Justin Elliott, ProPublica, and Theodoric Meyer, Politico | October 29, 2020 | ProPublicaAn FDA spokesperson said that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
One doctor’s campaign to stop a covid-19 vaccine being rushed through before Election Day | David Rotman | October 19, 2020 | MIT Technology Review
There is an ordinariness, an indistinctness, a generalization, not even to be found in a flock of sheep.
Imaginary Conversations and Poems | Walter Savage LandorPerhaps an opportunity would spring up from out of the sing-song ordinariness of my daily life—and what would I do then?
The Seven-Branched Candlestick | Gilbert W. (Gilbert Wolf) GabrielAnd withal, the ordinariness and the midland gumption of the scene were shot through with the bright exotic rays of romance!
Hilda Lessways | Arnold BennettHe liked the fundamental ordinariness in Aaron, the commonness of the common man.
Aaron's Rod | D. H. LawrenceMr. Hazlewood had carried with him a wonderful assurance of ordinariness.
Guy and Pauline | Compton Mackenzie
British Dictionary definitions for ordinary
/ (ˈɔːdənrɪ) /
of common or established type or occurrence
familiar, everyday, or unexceptional
uninteresting or commonplace
having regular or ex officio jurisdiction: an ordinary judge
maths (of a differential equation) containing two variables only and derivatives of one of the variables with respect to the other
a common or average situation, amount, or degree (esp in the phrase out of the ordinary)
a normal or commonplace person or thing
civil law a judge who exercises jurisdiction in his own right
(usually capital) an ecclesiastic, esp a bishop, holding an office to which certain jurisdictional powers are attached
RC Church
the parts of the Mass that do not vary from day to day: Compare proper (def. 13)
a prescribed form of divine service, esp the Mass
the US name for penny-farthing
heraldry any of several conventional figures, such as the bend, the fesse, and the cross, commonly charged upon shields
history a clergyman who visited condemned prisoners before their death
British obsolete
a meal provided regularly at a fixed price
the inn providing such meals
in ordinary British (used esp in titles) in regular service or attendance: physician in ordinary to the sovereign
Origin of ordinary
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with ordinary
see out of the ordinary.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse