run-of-the-mill
[ruhn-uh v-th uh-mil]
- merely average; commonplace; mediocre: just a plain, run-of-the-mill house; a run-of-the-mill performance.
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Origin of run-of-the-mill
First recorded in 1925–30
Synonyms
See more synonyms for run-of-the-mill on Thesaurus.comordinary, routine, everyday.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for run-of-the-mill
Contemporary Examples
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 WeddingAndrew Romano
April 14, 2014
Sabo is as incoherent and hateful as any run-of-the-mill troll.
The ad, for former Republican city council member Carl DeMaio, is in many ways a run-of-the-mill American political commercial.
Historical Examples
The street was full of people—strangers who didn't look like your run-of-the-mill artist.
The SyndicC.M. Kornbluth
run-of-the-mill
- ordinary, average, or undistinguished in quality, character, or nature; not special or excellent
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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 run-of-the-mill
adj.
"unspectacular," 1909 in a literal sense, in reference to material yielded by a mill, etc., before sorting for quality (cf. common run "usual, ordinary type," from 1712). Figurative use is from 1922.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper