common

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adjective

Definition of COMMON

1

often observed or encountered <horse ranches are a common sight in that part of the state>

Synonyms common or garden [chiefly British], commonplace, everyday, familiar, frequent, garden-variety, household, ordinary, quotidian, routine, ubiquitous, usual

Related Words normal, regular, standard; de rigueur, mandatory, obligatory; general, universal; ceaseless, constant, continual, continuous, incessant, unceasing; endemic, popular, prevailing, prevalent, rampant; perennial, recurrent, repeated

Phrases a dime a dozen

Near Antonyms aberrant, abnormal, irregular, unnatural; intermittent, occasional, sporadic

Antonyms extraordinary, infrequent, rare, seldom, uncommon, unfamiliar, unusual

2

being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events <just a common house cat but an extraordinary friend>

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

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

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

3

belonging or relating to the whole <facts of common knowledge>

Synonyms across-the-board, blanket, broad-brush, common, generic, global, overall, universal

Related Words all-embracing, broad, broad-gauge (or broad-gauged), broadscale, comprehensive, extensive, inclusionary, overarching, pervasive, sweeping, ubiquitous, wholesale, wide, widespread; aggregate, collective, complete, full, plenary; planetary, worldwide

Near Antonyms component, constituent; cross-sectional, divisional, fragmentary, partial; local, localized, regional, sectional

Antonyms individual, particular

4

belonging to the class of people of low social or economic rank <a man of wealth and privilege who mingled without pretense with the common folk>

Synonyms baseborn, common, humble, inferior, low, lowborn, lower-class, low-life, lowly, lumpen, mean, plebeian, prole, proletarian, unwashed, vulgar

Related Words bourgeois, middle-class; plain, poor, simple, working-class; déclassé, down-market, downscale

Near Antonyms eminent, illustrious, notable, prominent

Antonyms aristocratic, blue-blooded, genteel, gentle, grand, great, high, highborn, highbred, lofty, noble, partrician, upper-class, upper-crust, wellborn

5

held by or applicable to a majority of the people <a politician who works not for the special interests but for the common good>

Synonyms common, majority, overall, popular, prevailing, public, received, ruling, vulgar

Related Words unanimous, universal; pop; everyday, familiar, household, usual, well-known; contemporary, current, present; dominant, predominant, preponderant; characteristic, typical; pandemic, pervasive, prevalent, rife, widespread; communal, shared

Near Antonyms rare, strange, unknown, unusual; distinctive, especial, idiosyncratic, peculiar, special, unique; individual, separate, singular; nonpublic, personal, private

Antonyms uncommon, unpopular

6

used or done by a number of people as a group <used a common bathroom while at the campground>

Synonyms collaborative, combined, common, communal, concerted, conjoint, conjunct, cooperative, joint, multiple, mutual, pooled, public, shared, united

Related Words bilateral, consensual, reciprocal, symbiotic, synergic, synergistic, two-way; mass, popular; general, generic, universal

Near Antonyms personal, private; independent, separate, several; esoteric, particular, special, specialized

Antonyms exclusive, individual, one-man, one-sided, one-way, single, sole, solitary, unilateral

7

of average to below average quality <has a common singing voice that's good enough for performing at those venues>

Synonyms common, fair, indifferent, medium, middling, ordinary, passable, run-of-the-mill, run-of-the-mine (or run-of-mine), second-class, second-rate, so-so

Related Words acceptable, adequate, all right, alright, decent, OK (or okay), reasonable, satisfactory, sufficient, sufficing, tolerable; moderate, modest; presentable, respectable; minimal, unexceptional; fine, good, nice

Near Antonyms A1, capital, choice, classic, distinguished, excellent, exceptional, exquisite, fabulous, fantastic, fine, first-class, first-rate, grand, great, marvelous (or marvellous), matchless, maximum, nifty, number one (also No. 1), optimal, optimum, outstanding, par excellence, peerless, preeminent, prime, sensational, special, splendid, stellar, sterling, superb, superior, superlative, supreme, swell, terrific, tip-top, top, top-notch; unmatched, unparalleled, unsurpassed; deficient, inadequate, insufficient, lacking, unacceptable, unsatisfactory, wanting

8

of low quality <furniture of common workmanship that did not justify the high prices>

Synonyms bad, bargain-basement, bum, cheapjack, cheesy, coarse, common, crappy [slang], cut-rate, el cheapo, execrable, gimcrack, inferior, junky, lousy, low-grade, low-rent, mediocre, miserable, poor, rotten, rubbishy, schlock (or schlocky also shlock or shlocky), second-rate, shoddy, sleazy, terrible, trashy, trumpery, wretched

Related Words useless, valueless, worthless; indifferent, lackluster, second-class; brummagem, flashy, garish, gaudy, glitzy, kitsch, kitschy, meretricious, ostentatious, showy, splashy, swank (or swanky), tawdry; seedy, shabby, tacky; counterfeit, fake, phony (also phoney), sham; supercheap, ultracheap

Near Antonyms elegant, handsome, tasteful; handcrafted, polished, refined

Antonyms excellent, fine, first-class, first-rate, good, high-grade, superior, top-notch

9

lacking in refinement or good taste <embarrassed by the common manners of his new in-laws>

Synonyms common, crass, crude, gross, ill-bred, illiberal [archaic], incult, insensible, low, lowbred, lowbrow, raffish, rough, rough-hewn, roughneck, rude, rugged, tasteless, uncouth, uncultivated, uncultured, unpolished, unrefined, vulgar

Related Words boorish, churlish, cloddish, clownish, loutish, ungentlemanly; clumsy, lubberly, lumpish, oafish; inconsiderate, indelicate, insensitive, thoughtless; countrified (also countryfied), provincial, rustic (also rustical), unsophisticated; graceless, inelegant, tacky; animallike, barbaric, barbarous, uncivilized; mannerless, unmannered, unmannerly

Near Antonyms aristocratic, courtly, patrician; elegant, graceful, restrained; considerate, gracious, sensitive, thoughtful; citified, sophisticated, urbane

Antonyms civilized, cultivated, cultured, genteel, polished, refined, smooth, tasteful, ultrarefined, well-bred