as in imitative
using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model
critics faulted the novel for having a painfully unoriginal plot
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unoriginal
This seems a rather unoriginal name to be chosen by a woman whose talent lay with words.
—
Literary Hub,
9 Dec. 2025
The rhetoric justifying their presence and exonerating their violence is loud and unoriginal, echoing the way Chicago has long been spoken about, when it is spoken about, as a war zone in need of saving from itself.
—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
1 Nov. 2025
In sales, trust is currency, and nothing burns trust faster than sounding unoriginal, lazy or shady.
—
Don Markland,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
These are deeply unoriginal ideas about the future.
—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for unoriginal
Literary Hub,
9 Dec. 2025
The rhetoric justifying their presence and exonerating their violence is loud and unoriginal, echoing the way Chicago has long been spoken about, when it is spoken about, as a war zone in need of saving from itself.
—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
1 Nov. 2025
In sales, trust is currency, and nothing burns trust faster than sounding unoriginal, lazy or shady.
—
Don Markland,
Forbes.com,
2 Sep. 2025
These are deeply unoriginal ideas about the future.
—
Alex Morris,
Rolling Stone,
14 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for unoriginal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unoriginal
Adjective
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Since then, whenever new tools to crank out communications have become available, somebody has flooded the zone with the fastest, most imitative material that could garner attention.
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It may be borrowed or coined, named after a person, inspired by a place or imitative of a sound.
Adjective
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And their movies don’t get more formulaic than the new odd couple-style comedy starring John Cena and Eric André.
-
Job listings have become so formulaic that even strong candidates scroll past them without a second look.
Cite this Entry
“Unoriginal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unoriginal. Accessed 29 Jun. 2026.
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