SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
banal
adjective
So ordinary or overused that it lacks freshness or interest.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Overfamiliar and unoriginal
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topCommonplace can simply mean ordinary; banal criticizes a lack of freshness or interest.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See banal in use
The critic found the conclusion banal because it merely repeated familiar slogans.
For the campus arts magazine, Nia first described every festival performance as amazing, a banal judgment that gave readers little to picture.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license