Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Of or pertaining to a ban, or provincial governor: as, the royal banal court at Agram. See
ban . - Subject to manorial rights; used in common: as, a banal mill or oven. See
banality . - Common; commonplace; hackneyed; trite; stale.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Commonplace; trivial; hackneyed; trite.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Common in aboring way, to the point of beingpredictable ; containing nothing new or fresh.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I found it impossibly hard, and watched in awe as they demonstrated what they described as banal, but which we found almost magical in its purity.
Travel news, travel guides and reviews | guardian.co.uk 2009
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In his letter the pope said that in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis, the church had to be all the more watchful and attentive about who should become priests and ensure that future ministers do not succumb to what he called a banal and destructive sexuality.
Pope: Would-Be Priests Must Not be Deterred by Sex Scandal 2010
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In his letter the pope said that in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis, the church had to be all the more watchful and attentive about who should become priests and ensure that future ministers do not succumb to what he called a banal and destructive sexuality.
Pope: Would-Be Priests Must Not be Deterred by Sex Scandal 2010
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
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Most interactions in the old Soviet Union were very banal from the '50's on.
Balkinization 2007
uselessness commented on the word banal
The word everyone knows but no one is quite sure how to pronounce. Seems it's only ever presented in written form.
November 28, 2007
yarb commented on the word banal
I (and people I know) use this word all the time! Whenever I watch the TV news, for example. It's pronounced buh-NAAL. To rhyme with kraal.
November 28, 2007
bilby commented on the word banal
Don't like this one. Visually it looks like bum and anal slammed together (heaven forbid!) and the pronunciation is ugly and nasaal.
November 28, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word banal
U, I say it a lot, actually. Only, every single time there's a long pause while people stare at me. I can only surmise it's out of shock that someone's pronounced it aloud.
November 28, 2007
reesetee commented on the word banal
Nasaal? Haha!
November 28, 2007
darqueau commented on the word banal
"Banal ideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution.�?
sentence 32. Sol Lewitt. Sentences on Conceptual Art
July 27, 2008
milosrdenstvi commented on the word banal
Drives me berserk when people pronounce it to rhyme with 'anal'. Makes me simply wild! It is pronounced how yarb explained; anything else is simply indicative of where your mind's been.
August 15, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word banal
Milosrdentsvi, meet gangerh. :)
August 15, 2008
whichbe commented on the word banal
Seems to be like the pronunciation of 'canal', huh.
August 15, 2008
tiredseashell commented on the word banal
Like modern life.
September 9, 2008
mohitanand commented on the word banal
repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
The professor used such banal expression that many students in the class either fell asleep from boredom or stayed awake to complete his sentences and humor friends.
October 15, 2016