adjective
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everyday, ordinary, or banal
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relating to the world or worldly matters
Synonym Usage
See earthly.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of mundane
First recorded in 1425–75; from Latin mundānus, equivalent to mund(us) “world” + -ānus -ane; replacing late Middle English mondeyne, from Middle French mondain, from Latin, as above
Explanation
An ordinary, unexciting thing can be called mundane: "Superman hid his heroic feats by posing as his mundane alter ego, Clark Kent." Mundane, from the Latin word mundus, "world," originally referred to things on earth. Such things were supposed to be uninteresting when compared to the delights of Heaven; hence the word's present meaning. Writing about reality TV shows, a Newsweek writer opined, "In reality bizarro-world, the mundane is presented as the spectacular" — in other words, people's everyday routines are now televised as entertainment.
Vocabulary lists containing mundane
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In this sense, the Backrooms reveal how digital culture is beginning to reshape experiences traditionally associated with tourism, allowing for the mundane to become menacing.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
Part of this, I think, can be attributed to social media and its relentless invitation to aestheticize even the most mundane corners of domestic life, kitchen cabinets included.
From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026
In the books and TV adaptations, Laura vividly narrates daily life on the prairie, recounting her adventures and mundane activities in such a way that many readers say they see themselves in adolescent Laura.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Most of the time, she said, her days were "very mundane".
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
It was a mundane unraveling that could not be reversed, and therefore offered no opportunities to the storyteller: it belonged in the realm of disorder.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
