run-of-the-mill

[ ruhn-uhv-thuh-mil ]

adjective

1. merely average; commonplace; mediocre:

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

   Synonyms: everyday, routine, ordinary

run-of-the-mill

adjective

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

run of the mill

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of run-of-the-mill¹

First recorded in 1925–30

Idioms and Phrases

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]

Example Sentences

Most cases involve significant mental illness, not run-of-the-mill depression or anxiety.

From The Daily Beast

The results yield computer chips 9,000 times faster than a run-of-the-mill computer, using only the power of a tablet PC.

From The Daily Beast

A c--t is different than your run-of-the-mill jerk (or scoundrel, or creep, or whatever).

From The Daily Beast

Sabo is as incoherent and hateful as any run-of-the-mill troll.

From The Daily Beast

The ad, for former Republican city council member Carl DeMaio, is in many ways a run-of-the-mill American political commercial.

From The Daily Beast

The street was full of people—strangers who didn't look like your run-of-the-mill artist.

From Project Gutenberg

This is not—and when I say this, I mean the Oswald case—is not an ordinary run-of-the-mill-type of case.

From Project Gutenberg

Feature story, maybe, but it's pretty run-of-the-mill stuff, even at that.

From Project Gutenberg

Knowledge like this was too much for the ordinary run-of-the-mill person.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• middling
• undistinguished