Standard Lemma guide

banal

adj · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /bəˈnɑːl/
  • /ˈbeɪnəl/
  • /bəˈnæl/
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɑːl
  • rhymes with -eɪnəl
  • rhymes with -æl
  • CMU ARPABET: B AH0 N AA1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • banal clichés
  • banal conversation
  • sound banal
  • The movie’s dialogue was predictable and banal.
  • He made a few banal remarks about the weather.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: everyday, prosaic, mundane, banal, bathetic, bromidic, cheesy, stock, clichéd, commonplace, corny, dog-eared, hackneyed, hoary, overdone, overused, overworked, pat, played out, shopworn, stale, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, warmed-over, well-worn, basic, beat, blah, bland, boring, cold, colourless, drab, stuffy, dreich, drowsy, dull, dull as dishwater, flat, heavy going, ho-hum, humdrum, insipid, lackluster, lame, languid, lifeless, longsome, monotonous, no fun at parties, plain, plodding, prosy, pedantic, pedestrian, static, straightforward, snoozeworthy, soporific, tedious, uncool, wan, weaksauce, wooden, uninteresting, stodgy, vapid, vanilla

Antonyms: new, original

2

adj

Meaning 2

Relating to a type of feudal jurisdiction or service.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical, uncommon

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • bromidic sermons
  • his remarks were trite and commonplace
  • hackneyed phrases
  • a stock answer
  • repeating threadbare jokes
  • parroting some timeworn axiom
  • the trite metaphor `hard as nails'

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: commonplace, hackneyed, old-hat, shopworn, stock(a), threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-worn

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French banal (“held in common, relating to feudal service, by extension commonplace”), from Old French banel, related to Medieval Latin bannālis (“subject to feudal authority”), from Latin bannus (“jurisdiction”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to order, summon, forbid”). Equivalent to ban + -al. See also ban, abandon.

Across languages

Translations

64 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: banal — common
  • Arabic: بَايِخ (bāyiḵ) — common
  • Arabic: عَادِيّ (ʕādiyy) — common
  • Armenian: տափակ (tapʻak) — common
  • Armenian: ծեծված (cecvac) — common
  • Armenian: բանալ (banal) — common
  • Armenian: անհամ (anham) — common
  • Belarusian: бана́льны (banálʹny) — common
  • Belarusian: звыча́йны (zvyčájny) — common
  • Bulgarian: обикнове́н (obiknovén) — common
  • Bulgarian: бана́лен (banálen) — common
  • Catalan: banal — common
  • Chinese Mandarin: 平凡 (píngfán) — common
  • Chinese Mandarin: 平庸 (píngyōng) — common
  • Chinese Mandarin: 平常 (píngcháng) — common
  • Czech: banální — common
  • Danish: banal — common
  • Dutch: banaal — common
  • Dutch: gewoontjes — common
  • Esperanto: banala — common
  • Finnish: lattea — common
  • Finnish: itsestään selvä — common
  • French: banal — common
  • West-Frisian: plat — common
  • Galician: banal — common
  • Georgian: ბანალური (banaluri) — common
  • Georgian: ჩვეულებრივი (čveulebrivi) — common
  • German: banal — common
  • Greek: μπανάλ (banál) — common
  • Hebrew: שטחי (shitkhí) — common
  • Hebrew: בָּנָלִי (banáli) — common
  • Hungarian: banális — common
  • Indonesian: banal — common
  • Interlingua: banal — common
  • Italian: banale — common
  • Japanese: ありふれた (arifureta) — common
  • Japanese: 陳腐な (chinpu na) — common
  • Korean: 시시하다 (sisihada) — common
  • Korean: 따분하다 (ttabunhada) — common
  • Korean: 진부(陳腐)하다 (jinbuhada) — common
  • Korean: 평범하다 (pyeongbeomhada) — common
  • Kyrgyz: тамтыгы чыккан (tamtıgı cıkkan) — common
  • Lithuanian: banalus — common
  • Macedonian: банален (banalen) — common
  • Malay: basi — common
  • Malay: banal — common
  • Māori: mākihakiha — common
  • Norwegian Bokmål: banal — common
  • Polish: banalny — common
  • Portuguese: banal — common
  • Romanian: banal — common
  • Russian: бана́льный (banálʹnyj) — common
  • Russian: изби́тый (izbítyj) — common
  • Russian: обыкнове́нный (obyknovénnyj) — common
  • Serbo-Croatian: ба̀на̄лан — common
  • Serbo-Croatian: bànālan — common
  • Slovak: banálny — common
  • Slovene: banalen — common
  • Spanish: banal — common
  • Swedish: banal — common
  • Turkish: banal — common
  • Ukrainian: бана́льний (banálʹnyj) — common
  • Ukrainian: звича́йний (zvyčájnyj) — common
  • Vietnamese: nhàm — common