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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

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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

If you are curious about getting a whole-body MRI, it is worth first making sure that you are doing all of the more run-of-the-mill stuff your doctor recommends.

From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026

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

From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026

A look in the vehicle’s trunk revealed how the automaker jury-rigged a run-of-the-mill sport-utility vehicle to run with Wayve’s technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026

During my first watch, I thought this would be a run-of-the-mill, substandard thriller: Establish the characters, ramp up the obsession, throw a little violence in.

From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026

Normal run-of-the-mill people like me—except for a few discreet tics, sure, who doesn’t have something?—are the exception.

From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson

In the season's horrific detour from the run of the mill, only one confusing couple has only survived the what felt like the show's version of "The Hunger Games."

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2023

Cecil Day-Lewis was "a possible" - he produced "run of the mill poetry but nothing particularly outstanding".

From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2023

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

During jury selection, he said this wasn’t “a run of the mill case” and that it would require extra effort and time to ensure the trial was “done fairly.”

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 26, 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

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Related Words

• middling
• undistinguished

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