ordinary

[ awr-dn-er-ee ]

/ ˈɔr dnˌɛr i /

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ordinary 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.

Nearby words

Idioms

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

1250–1300; Middle English ordinarie (noun and adj.) < Latin ordinārius regular, of the usual order, equivalent to ordin- (see order) + -ārius -ary

SYNONYMS FOR ordinary

4 regular, accustomed.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ordinary ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR ordinary

1 extraordinary, unusual, exceptional.

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

Synonym study

3. See common.

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

Examples from the Web for ordinary

The Rizzoli in New York City was no ordinary bookstore in its seventies heyday.
The Bookstore That Bewitched Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Greta Garbo|Felice Picano|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They refused to believe that ordinary humans could beat them at their own game.
‘Asteroids’ & The Dawn of the Gamer Age|David Owen|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Food is becoming scarce, which has led to prices increasing beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Fighting Ebola and Starvation in Sierra Leone|Abby Haglage|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Letters to Afar” demonstrates how ordinary the victims were.
In Hands of Hungarian Artist, Jewish Home Movies of the ’30s a Warning of Coming Holocaust|Daniel Genis|October 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST

This is a list of seven extraordinary items that were recovered by ordinary individuals just going about their day.
7 Historically Significant Artifacts Rescued by Happenstance|The Daily Beast|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A main cause of the disadvantageous appearance exhibited by the ordinary schoolboy, lies in what we denominate sheepishness.
Thoughts on Man|William Godwin
I was in a corner of the lower end, when I saw Dubois enter in a stout coat, with his ordinary bearing.
The Memoirs of Louis XIV., His Court and The Regency, Complete|Duc de Saint-Simon
Its majestic form, as it towers high above the ordinary works of man, conveys the repose of conscious strength to the beholder.
Getting Acquainted with the Trees|J. Horace McFarland
New Zealand spinach is satisfactory for growing in warm climates, as it withstands heat better than the ordinary spinach.
The Vegetable Garden|Anonymous
Mere amplitude of the most ordinary elements of water and alluvial land has done this.
Personal Memoirs Of A Residence Of Thirty Years With The Indian Tribes On The American Frontiers|Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

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

Word Origin and History for ordinary

ordinary

adj.

early 15c., "belonging to the usual order or course," from Old French ordinarie "ordinary, usual" and directly from Latin ordinarius "customary, regular, usual, orderly," from ordo (genitive ordinis) "order" (see order (n.)). Its various noun usages, dating to late 14c. and common until 19c., now largely extinct except in out of the ordinary (1893). In British education, Ordinary level (abbrev. O level), "lowest of the three levels of General Certificate of Education," is attested from 1947. Related: Ordinarily.

Idioms and Phrases with ordinary

ordinary

see out of the ordinary.

ordinary

adjective

noun, plural or·di·nar·ies.

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Nearby words

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Origin of ordinary

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for ordinary

British Dictionary definitions for ordinary

ordinary

adjective

noun plural -naries

Word Origin for ordinary

Word Origin and History for ordinary

ordinary

Idioms and Phrases with ordinary

ordinary