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• run-of-the-mill
  run-of-the-mill

  adjective

  merely average; commonplace; mediocre.
• run of the mill
  run of the mill

  Common, ordinary, average: “His performance in the game was neither exemplary nor disastrous; it was simply run of the mill.”

run-of-the-mill

American  

[ruhn-uhv-thuh-mil] / ˈrʌn əv ðəˈmɪl /

adjective

1. merely average; commonplace; mediocre.

   just a plain, run-of-the-mill house; a run-of-the-mill performance.

   Synonyms:

   everyday, routine, ordinary

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run-of-the-mill British  

adjective

1. ordinary, average, or undistinguished in quality, character, or nature; not special or excellent

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run of the mill Cultural  

1. Common, ordinary, average: “His performance in the game was neither exemplary nor disastrous; it was simply run of the mill.”

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run of the mill Idioms  

1. Ordinary, average, as in There's nothing special about these singers—they're just run of the mill. This expression alludes to fabrics coming directly from a mill without having been sorted or inspected for quality. It has survived such similar phrases as run of the mine and run of the kiln, for the products of mines and kilns. [Late 1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of run-of-the-mill

First recorded in 1925–30

Explanation

Something run-of-the-mill is average and unexceptional. Nothing unusual happens during a run-of-the-mill day. Originally, this term has to do with material produced by a mill — such as lumber — that had the same size and quality. From there, it came to refer to other things that don't vary. A run-of-the-mill baseball player is ordinary: not great, but not terrible. A run-of-the-mill school grade is C. If something is very good or bad, it's noteworthy and therefore not run-of-the-mill.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

run-of-the-mill run of the mill

“Backwater,” full of criminous and philosophical puzzles, is no run-of-the-mill police procedural.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

Infantino had not travelled to Colombia for any run-of-the-mill meeting on Friday.

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

At first glance, such posts seem like run-of-the-mill viral content.

From Slate ● Jun. 27, 2026

Before the performers infiltrate the ship, “I’m trying to intentionally set up audience expectations to think they’re going to get this run-of-the-mill Hollywood death tour,” he explained.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

Then, out of this run-of-the-mill swing exuberance, something emerges that is new in its sound, new in its execution and new in its improvisatory style.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

In recent years, litigation on certain types of religious freedom lawsuits have been practically run of the mill: prayer on school premises, for example, and government funding for students at faith-based schools.

From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2025

“This is not a run of the mill rotation,” he said when meeting with U.S. commanders there.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2023

The split may be run of the mill for the blingy soccer celebrity industrial complex, but in Rome, the separation has cut into a legend.

From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2022

Transparency mode is a little more run of the mill but serves its purpose if you need a quick check-in with the outside world.

From The Verge ● Jul. 16, 2022

He was head and shoulders smarter than the run of the mill, and after he’d watched the sun and moon and stars fer a long time he set down and he done some figgerin’.

From "Across Five Aprils" by Irene Hunt

Related Words

• middling
• undistinguished