ordinary

[ awr-dn-er-ee ]

/ ˈɔr dnˌɛr i /

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See synonyms for: ordinary / ordinaries / ordinariness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

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.

customary; usual; normal: We plan to do the ordinary things this weekend.

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.

noun, plural or·di·nar·ies.

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.

penny-farthing.

Heraldry.

any of the simplest and commonest charges, usually having straight or broadly curved edges.
honorable ordinary.

OTHER WORDS FOR ordinary

4 regular, accustomed.

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OPPOSITES FOR ordinary

1 extraordinary, unusual, exceptional.

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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

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ordinarie (noun and adjective), from Latin ordinārius “regular, of the usual order,” equivalent to ordin- (stem of ordō “row, regular arrangement”) + -ārius adjective suffix; see order, -ary

synonym study for ordinary

3. See common.

OTHER WORDS FROM ordinary

or·di·nar·i·ness, nounqua·si-or·di·nar·y, adjectivesu·per·or·di·nar·y, adjectiveun·or·di·nar·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

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-Science
The 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 Post
Information 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 Magazine
If 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|ProPublica

An 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 Landor
Perhaps 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) Gabriel
And withal, the ordinariness and the midland gumption of the scene were shot through with the bright exotic rays of romance!
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
He liked the fundamental ordinariness in Aaron, the commonness of the common man.
Aaron's Rod|D. H. Lawrence
Mr. Hazlewood had carried with him a wonderful assurance of ordinariness.
Guy and Pauline|Compton Mackenzie

British Dictionary definitions for ordinary

ordinary

/ (ˈɔːdənrɪ) /

adjective

of common or established type or occurrence

familiar, everyday, or unexceptional

uninteresting or commonplace

having regular or ex officio jurisdictionan ordinary judge

maths (of a differential equation) containing two variables only and derivatives of one of the variables with respect to the other

noun plural -naries

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 dayCompare 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 attendancephysician in ordinary to the sovereign

Word Origin for ordinary

C16: (adj) and C13: (some n senses): ultimately from Latin ordinārius orderly, from ordō order

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with ordinary

ordinary

see out of the ordinary.

ordinary

OTHER WORDS FOR ordinary

OPPOSITES FOR ordinary

Idioms about ordinary

Origin of ordinary

synonym study for ordinary

OTHER WORDS FROM ordinary

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How to use ordinary in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ordinary

Word Origin for ordinary

Other Idioms and Phrases with ordinary