banal
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(bə-năl', bā'nəl, bə-näl') 
adj.
Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite: "Blunt language cannot hide a banal conception" (James Wolcott).
banally ba·nal'ly adv.
adj.
Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite: "Blunt language cannot hide a banal conception" (James Wolcott).
[French, from Old French, shared by tenants in a feudal jurisdiction, from ban, summons to military service, of Germanic origin.]
banalize ba·nal'ize' v.banally ba·nal'ly adv.
USAGE NOTE The pronunciation of banal is not settled among educated speakers of American English. Sixty years ago, H.W. Fowler recommended the pronunciation (băn'əl, rhyming with panel), but this pronunciation is now regarded as recondite by most Americans: no member of the Usage Panel prefers this pronunciation. In our 2001 survey, (bənăl') is preferred by 58 percent of the Usage Panel, (bā'nəl) by 28 percent, and (bə-näl') by 13 percent (this pronunciation is more common in British English). Some Panelists admit to being so vexed by the problem that they tend to avoid the word in conversation. Speakers can perhaps take comfort in knowing that these three pronunciations each have the support of at least some of the Usage Panel and that none of them is incorrect. When several pronunciations of a word are widely used, there is really no right or wrong one.
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pronounced bǝ-nahl and meaning 'trite, feeble, commonplace', is a loanword that has survived, despite the fulmination of Fowler in 1926 ('imported from France by a class of writers whose jaded taste relishes novel or imposing jargon'), because no other word in English enjoys the same touch of venom:
Books are filled with pictures rather than text, and with trivial content and banal style, to make them 'easier to read'.—New Scientist, 1991.The alternatives listed by Fowler, including commonplace and trite, simply won't do, and nowadays we relish words of French origin rather more than he did. For other words of this type, see loanword.
| ban, baluster, banister, balmy, barmy | |
| banjo, bar, barring, barbarian, barbaric, barbarous |
Roget's Thesaurus:
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banal
adjective
- Without freshness or appeal because of overuse: bromidic, clichéd, commonplace, corny, hackneyed, musty, overused, overworked, platitudinal, platitudinous, shopworn, stale, stereotyped, stereotypic, stereotypical, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, warmed-over, well-worn, worn-out. See excite/bore/interest, usual/unusual.
Word Tutor:
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banally
IN BRIEF: adv. - In a trite or boring manner.
Tutor's tip: This word was used in the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee finals.
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Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'banal'
See crossword solutions for the clue Translations:
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Banal
Nederlands (Dutch)
banaal, afgezaagd
Français (French)
adj. - banal, ordinaire
Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - κοινότοπος, μπανάλ
Português (Portuguese)
adj. - banal
Español (Spanish)
adj. - banal, trivial
Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - banal
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
平凡的, 陈腐的
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 平凡的, 陳腐的
日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 平凡な, 陳腐な
العربيه (Arabic)
(صفه) تافه, عادي
עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - שגרתי, נדוש, בנאלי
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