run-of-the-mill
merely average; commonplace; mediocre: just a plain, run-of-the-mill house; a run-of-the-mill performance.
Origin of run-of-the-mill
1Other words for run-of-the-mill
Words Nearby run-of-the-mill
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use run-of-the-mill in a sentence
Most cases involve significant mental illness, not run-of-the-mill depression or anxiety.
The results yield computer chips 9,000 times faster than a run-of-the-mill computer, using only the power of a tablet PC.
A c--t is different than your run-of-the-mill jerk (or scoundrel, or creep, or whatever).
Game of Thrones’ ‘The Lion and the Rose’: Joffrey’s Demented, Shocking Royal Wedding | Andrew Romano | April 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTSabo is as incoherent and hateful as any run-of-the-mill troll.
Breitbart Twerks Pelosi With Credibility-Destroying Ad | Emily Shire | April 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe ad, for former Republican city council member Carl DeMaio, is in many ways a run-of-the-mill American political commercial.
Out, Proud and Loud: A GOP Nominee Breaks Boundaries | James Kirchick | February 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The street was full of people—strangers who didn't look like your run-of-the-mill artist.
The Syndic | C.M. KornbluthThis is not—and when I say this, I mean the Oswald case—is not an ordinary run-of-the-mill-type of case.
Warren Commission (5 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15) | The President's Commission on the Assassination of President KennedyFeature story, maybe, but it's pretty run-of-the-mill stuff, even at that.
The Telenizer | Don ThompsonKnowledge like this was too much for the ordinary run-of-the-mill person.
The Eyes Have It | Philip Kindred Dick
British Dictionary definitions for run-of-the-mill
ordinary, average, or undistinguished in quality, character, or nature; not special or excellent
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
Cultural definitions for run of the mill
Common, ordinary, average: “His performance in the game was neither exemplary nor disastrous; it was simply run of the mill.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with run-of-the-mill
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]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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