Standard Lemma guide

commonplace

adj · noun · verb · 12 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.

  • General-American: /ˈkɑmənˌpleɪs/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈkɒmənˌpleɪs/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AA1 M AH0 N P L EY2 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Ordinary; not having any remarkable characteristics.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: routine, undistinguished, unexceptional, quotidian, 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, average, medial, basic, bog-standard, common, common-and-garden, common-or-garden, congruent, consistent, conventional, customary, everyday, expected, garden variety, improminent, mundane, natural, normal, ordinary, par for the course, par, plain, plain vanilla, regular, run-of-the-mill, standard, standard issue, typical, unremarkable, unstrange, usual, vulgar, wakeaday, workaday

Antonyms: distinguished, inimitable, unique

2

noun

Meaning 2

A platitude or cliché.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A commonplace book.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To make a commonplace book.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

adjective satellite

Meaning 9

not challenging; dull and lacking excitement

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an unglamorous job greasing engines

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: humdrum, prosaic, unglamorous, unglamourous

Antonyms: none provided

10

adjective satellite

Meaning 10

completely ordinary and unremarkable

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • air travel has now become commonplace
  • commonplace everyday activities

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

adjective satellite

Meaning 11

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

Antonyms: none provided

12

noun

Meaning 12

a trite or obvious remark

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: platitude, cliche, banality, bromide

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: remark, comment, input, truism

History

Etymology

A calque of Latin locus commūnis, referring to a generally applicable literary passage, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὸς τόπος (koinòs tópos).

Across languages

Translations

95 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: alledaags — ordinary
  • Afrikaans: gewoon — ordinary
  • Bulgarian: обикнове́н (obiknovén) — ordinary
  • Bulgarian: всекидне́вен (vsekidnéven) — ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 尋常 /寻常 (xúncháng) — ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 平凡 (píngfán) — ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 常見 /常见 (chángjiàn) — ordinary
  • Chinese Mandarin: 普通 (pǔtōng) — ordinary
  • Esperanto: ordinara — ordinary
  • Finnish: tavallinen — ordinary
  • Finnish: tavanomainen — ordinary
  • French: ordinaire — ordinary
  • French: banal — ordinary
  • German: alltäglich — ordinary
  • German: banal — ordinary
  • German: gang und gäbe — ordinary
  • German: gewöhnlich — ordinary
  • German: abgedroschen — ordinary
  • German: normal — ordinary
  • German: fade — ordinary
  • Greek: κοινός (koinós) — ordinary
  • Greek: τετριμμένος (tetrimménos) — ordinary
  • Hungarian: közönséges — ordinary
  • Hungarian: mindennapos — ordinary
  • Hungarian: szokványos — ordinary
  • Hungarian: megszokott — ordinary
  • Italian: ordinario — ordinary
  • Italian: banale — ordinary
  • Japanese: ありきたりの (arikitari no) — ordinary
  • Japanese: ありふれた (arifureta) — ordinary
  • Japanese: 平凡な (heibon na) — ordinary
  • Japanese: 月並みの (tsukinami no) — ordinary
  • Polish: pospolity — ordinary
  • Polish: powszechny — ordinary
  • Portuguese: corriqueiro — ordinary
  • Portuguese: banal — ordinary
  • Portuguese: prosaico — ordinary
  • Portuguese: comum — ordinary
  • Portuguese: rotineiro — ordinary
  • Romanian: banal — ordinary
  • Romanian: ordinar — ordinary
  • Russian: обыкнове́нный (obyknovénnyj) — ordinary
  • Russian: обы́чный (obýčnyj) — ordinary
  • Russian: обы́денный (obýdennyj) — ordinary
  • Russian: бана́льный (banálʹnyj) — ordinary
  • Spanish: común — ordinary
  • Spanish: común y corriente — ordinary
  • Turkish: alelâde — ordinary
  • Turkish: basmakalıp — ordinary
  • Turkish: olağan — ordinary
  • Turkish: sıradan — ordinary
  • Vietnamese: đời thường — ordinary
  • Bulgarian: бана́лност (banálnost) — platitude or cliché
  • Chinese Mandarin: 老生常談 /老生常谈 (lǎoshēngchángtán) — platitude or cliché
  • Chinese Mandarin: 陳腔濫調 /陈腔滥调 (chénqiānglàndiào) — platitude or cliché
  • Dutch: gemeenplaats — platitude or cliché
  • Finnish: latteus — platitude or cliché
  • Finnish: klisee — platitude or cliché
  • French: lieu commun — platitude or cliché
  • German: Gemeinplatz — platitude or cliché
  • German: Allgemeinplatz — platitude or cliché
  • German: Plattitüde — platitude or cliché
  • German: Floskel — platitude or cliché
  • German: Binsenweisheit — platitude or cliché
  • German: Binsenwahrheit — platitude or cliché
  • Greek: κοινοτοπία (koinotopía) — platitude or cliché
  • Hungarian: közhely — platitude or cliché
  • Italian: luogo comune — platitude or cliché
  • Polish: frazes — platitude or cliché
  • Portuguese: lugar-comum — platitude or cliché
  • Portuguese: chavão — platitude or cliché
  • Romanian: loc comun — platitude or cliché
  • Russian: о́бщее ме́сто (óbščeje mésto) — platitude or cliché
  • Russian: клише́ (klišé) — platitude or cliché
  • Spanish: lugar común — platitude or cliché
  • Spanish: tópico — platitude or cliché
  • Spanish: cliché — platitude or cliché
  • Spanish: clisé — platitude or cliché
  • Spanish: perogrullada — platitude or cliché
  • Swedish: klyscha — platitude or cliché
  • Swedish: plattityd — platitude or cliché
  • Swedish: floskel — platitude or cliché
  • Turkish: basmakalıp — platitude or cliché
  • Finnish: tavanomainen — something that is ordinary
  • German: Normalität — something that is ordinary
  • German: Alltäglichkeit — something that is ordinary
  • Greek: κοινοτοπία (koinotopía) — something that is ordinary
  • Hungarian: mindennapos dolog — something that is ordinary
  • Italian: fatto normale — something that is ordinary
  • Polish: banał — something that is ordinary
  • Portuguese: lugar-comum — something that is ordinary
  • Russian: банальность (banalʹnostʹ) — something that is ordinary
  • Russian: заурядность (zaurjadnostʹ) — something that is ordinary
  • Spanish: lugar común — something that is ordinary
  • Turkish: basmakalıp — something that is ordinary
Real reading context

commonplace in complete knowledge articles