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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

One reason for targeting Ashaal could have been run-of-the-mill avarice.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 30, 2026

Thus, the dollar’s decline isn’t run-of-the-mill market noise, but the natural result of the U.S. giving priority to the dollar’s domestic role over its global one.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

Catherine Corless thought it would be a “simple, run-of-the-mill kind of thing” when she began a local history course in 2005.

From BBC • Jul. 12, 2025

Most of these films are tired, run-of-the-mill ocean thrillers that recycle the same beats of better movies that have come before.

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2025

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

Related Words

• middling
• undistinguished