ordinary

²ordinary

adj

Definition of ORDINARY

1

: of a kind to be expected in the normal order of events : routine, usual <an ordinary day>

2

: having or constituting immediate or original jurisdiction; also : belonging to such jurisdiction

3

a : of common quality, rank, or ability <an ordinary teenager> b : deficient in quality : poor, inferior <ordinary wine>

— or·di·nar·i·ly \ˌȯr-də-ˈner-ə-lē\ adverb

— or·di·nar·i·ness \ˈȯr-də-ˌner-ē-nəs\ noun

Examples of ORDINARY

1. They've had the ordinary problems associated with starting a new business.
2. My wife thought our guide was strange, but he seemed perfectly ordinary to me.
3. The meal was ordinary and uninspired.

Origin of ORDINARY

Middle English ordinarie, from Latin ordinarius, from ordin-, ordo order

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to ORDINARY

Synonyms: average, common, commonplace, cut-and-dried (also cut-and-dry), everyday, garden-variety, normal, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, standard-issue, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workaday, par for the course

Antonyms: abnormal, exceptional, extraordinary, odd, out-of-the-way, strange, unusual

Related Words: regular, typical, unextraordinary; familiar, homely, plain, plain-Jane, popular, vulgar; natural; customary, wonted; insignificant, trivial, unimportant; frequent, habitual; expected, predictable

Near Antonyms: curious, funny, peculiar, quaint, queer; aberrant, anomalous, atypical, irregular, untypical; rare, recherché, scarce; fantastic (also fantastical), phenomenal; bizarre, far-out, Kafkaesque, outrageous, outré, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, wild; eccentric, idiosyncratic, kooky (also kookie), nonconformist, oddball, offbeat, unconventional, unorthodox; freak, freakish; conspicuous, notable, novel, outstanding, prominent, salient, signal, striking, unexampled, unprecedented; singular, unique, unparalleled

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