banal

banal

adjective

Definition of BANAL

1

lacking in qualities that make for spirit and character <the sort of banal woman who appeals to men not looking for intellectual stimulation>

Synonyms banal, flat, insipid, milk-and-water, namby-pamby, watery

Related Words unexciting, uninspiring, unrewarding; bland, boring, drab, dreary, dry, dull, heavy, humdrum, jading, leaden, lifeless, monotonous, pedestrian, ponderous, tedious, tiresome, tiring, uninteresting, vapid, wearisome, weary, wearying; inane; innocuous, inoffensive; mild, soft, subdued, tame, weak; common, commonplace, ordinary, stale, unexceptional

Near Antonyms piquant, poignant, pungent, racy, spicy; meaty, substantial; entertaining, exciting, galvanizing, inspiring, invigorating, thrilling

2

used or heard so often as to be dull <please find new ways of phrasing your thoughts instead of relying on banal expressions>

Synonyms banal, cliché (also cliche), clichéd, cobwebby, commonplace, hack, hackney, hackneyed, moth-eaten, musty, obligatory, shopworn, stereotyped, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-worn

Related Words twice-told; bromidic, platitudinal, platitudinous; canned, cardboard, conventional, cookie-cutter, derivative, imitative, ready-made, tried-and-true, unimaginative, uninspired, unoriginal; normal, ordinary, rote, routine, standard, stock, typical, usual; arid, barren, boring, colorless, drab, dreary, drudging, dry, dull, dusty, flat, heavy, ho-hum, humdrum, jading, jejune, leaden, mind-numbing, monotonous, numbing, old, pedantic, pedestrian, ponderous, prosaic, stodgy, stuffy, tame, tedious, tiresome, tiring, undramatic, uninteresting, vapid, wearisome, weary, wearying; old-fashioned, old hat

Near Antonyms animating, energizing, enlivening, exciting, galvanizing, invigorating, stimulating; absorbing, engaging, engrossing, gripping, interesting, intriguing, involving, riveting; atypical, extraordinary, strange, unaccustomed, uncommon, unfamiliar, unheard-of, unknown, unprecedented, unusual; pathbreaking, pioneering, trailblazing

Antonyms fresh, new, novel, original, unclichéd, unhackneyed