Definition of banalitynext
as in cliché
an idea or expression that has been used by many people another sitcom based on the banality of roommates with opposite personalities

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of banality For all the women looking up at me to think of me not as a crying heap on a toilet whose baby never latched but as someone who found meaning in all of our daily banalities. — Danielle Parker, CBS News, 4 Aug. 2026 Commentary and opinions In his latest column, Gustavo Arellano breaks down the banality of evil in the Border Patrol’s secret anti-immigrant slur. — Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026 And yet for God’s sake, just look at the man—at his dispiriting attempts at humor, his weirdly off-putting outfits, his incessant posting of banalities and faux profundities and extreme-right disinformation on social media. — Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026 But together, the whole is blander than the sum of its parts—a subtle banality humans can often implicitly sense. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 29 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for banality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banality
Noun
  • Groundwater tests taken near the purge sites showed evidence of oil field wastewater pollution, including high levels of salt, bromide and the carcinogen benzene, which exceeded the EPA drinking water standard by five times.
    — Nick Bowlin, ProPublica, 27 Oct. 2026
  • At the time, the state used a three-drug execution protocol of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Inspired by Marcel Duchamp and his poetry of the everyday, Rauschenberg and Johns used commonplace objects—a flashlight, a bedspread—in their creations.
    — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Marshall responded by characterizing the practice as commonplace among area hospitals.
    — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Are the general platitudes about Perry’s talent and why Friends was successful — courtesy of a single cultural critic — really necessary?
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Hughes offered the usual interview platitudes and seemed to be pleased with how his team was playing.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Another truism, again reaffirmed, is that a president’s approval ratings often are useful in gauging the country’s mood before midterm elections.
    — W Joseph Campbell, The Conversation, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The Gilded Age is beyond simplistic writing truisms like making every scene matter or following a story line all the way to a resolution.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 30 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Carrie blends elements of that genre, while really leaning into the horror that made Carrie an enduring property – applying those tropes to modern teenage life.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Jewish groups argue that preserving the definition perpetuates an antisemitic trope.
    — Juan Melamed, Sun Sentinel, 2 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Put junk into it, and more junk will come out, as the saying goes.
    — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Last week, during a state banquet for Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq at Windsor Castle, the King quoted a hadith, a saying of the prophet Muhammad, in Arabic.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 30 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Banality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banality. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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