Synonyms of common

common

adjective

ˈkä-mən 

1

as in ordinary

often observed or encountered

horse ranches are a common sight in that part of the state

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ordinary
• usual
• commonplace
• familiar
• frequent
• household
• ubiquitous
• general
• everyday
• prevailing
• routine
• common or garden
• normal
• standard
• prevalent
• garden-variety
• quotidian
• popular
• a dime a dozen
• mandatory
• universal
• continuous
• constant
• regular
• obligatory
• recurrent
• endemic
• continual
• rampant
• perennial
• incessant
• unceasing
• repeated
• ceaseless
• de rigueur

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unusual
• rare
• uncommon
• extraordinary
• seldom
• unfamiliar
• infrequent
• abnormal
• unnatural
• occasional
• irregular
• intermittent
• sporadic
• aberrant

2

as in normal

being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events

just a common house cat but an extraordinary friend

Synonyms & Similar Words

• normal
• ordinary
• usual
• typical
• commonplace
• average
• standard
• routine
• customary
• familiar
• everyday
• unremarkable
• prosaic
• regular
• unexceptional
• expected
• cut-and-dried
• garden-variety
• run-of-the-mill
• popular
• standard-issue
• workaday
• par for the course
• plain
• homely
• frequent
• predictable
• trivial
• vulgar
• unimportant
• natural
• insignificant
• unextraordinary
• habitual
• plain-Jane
• wonted

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unusual
• strange
• extraordinary
• abnormal
• odd
• peculiar
• exceptional
• rare
• curious
• funny
• atypical
• out-of-the-way
• quaint
• anomalous
• scarce
• queer
• irregular
• aberrant
• wild
• bizarre
• fantastic
• weird
• phenomenal
• prominent
• outstanding
• outrageous
• unique
• notable
• striking
• idiosyncratic
• eccentric
• untypical
• conspicuous
• unconventional
• unorthodox
• salient
• unprecedented
• singular
• novel
• signal
• wacky
• unparalleled
• oddball
• recherché
• outré
• offbeat
• way-out
• kooky
• far-out
• freakish
• nonconformist
• Kafkaesque
• unexampled
• freak

3

as in general

belonging or relating to the whole

facts of common knowledge

Synonyms & Similar Words

• general
• generic
• overall
• universal
• broad
• wide
• widespread
• global
• blanket
• extensive
• collective
• pervasive
• across-the-board
• broad-brush
• sweeping
• ubiquitous
• comprehensive
• overarching
• wholesale
• aggregate
• worldwide
• complete
• full
• all-embracing
• broad-gauge
• plenary
• planetary
• inclusionary
• broadscale

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• particular
• individual
• component
• local
• partial
• regional
• fragmentary
• constituent
• divisional
• localized
• sectional
• cross-sectional

4

as in low

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 & Similar Words

• low
• humble
• plebeian
• ignoble
• lower-class
• inferior
• proletarian
• vulgar
• poor
• lowly
• unwashed
• low-life
• mean
• lumpen
• simple
• lowborn
• prole
• bourgeois
• middle-class
• baseborn
• plain
• working-class
• downscale
• down-market
• déclassé

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• great
• high
• noble
• aristocratic
• lofty
• gentle
• upper-class
• grand
• genteel
• patrician
• prominent
• notable
• upper-crust
• eminent
• highborn
• illustrious
• blue-blooded
• highbred
• wellborn

5

as in prevailing

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 & Similar Words

• general
• prevailing
• popular
• overall
• public
• predominant
• unanimous
• majority
• received
• usual
• present
• vulgar
• ruling
• typical
• dominant
• current
• prevalent
• universal
• widespread
• characteristic
• contemporary
• familiar
• pervasive
• communal
• well-known
• everyday
• pop
• shared
• preponderant
• rife
• household
• pandemic

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• uncommon
• unusual
• rare
• special
• strange
• unknown
• unique
• distinctive
• individual
• peculiar
• unpopular
• separate
• personal
• private
• idiosyncratic
• especial
• singular
• nonpublic

6

as in collective

used or done by a number of people as a group

used a common bathroom while at the campground

Synonyms & Similar Words

• collective
• joint
• collaborative
• combined
• mutual
• communal
• shared
• cooperative
• multiple
• united
• concerted
• public
• pooled
• conjoint
• conjunct
• reciprocal
• generic
• general
• bilateral
• synergistic
• symbiotic
• consensual
• mass
• popular
• synergic
• universal
• two-way

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• individual
• single
• personal
• exclusive
• sole
• solitary
• unilateral
• private
• several
• one-man
• separate
• independent
• particular
• special
• one-sided
• one-way
• specialized
• esoteric

7

as in mediocre

of average to below average quality

has a common singing voice that's good enough for performing at those venues

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mediocre
• decent
• satisfactory
• ordinary
• medium
• indifferent
• fair
• adequate
• middling
• reasonable
• acceptable
• second-class
• nice
• passable
• sufficient
• run-of-the-mill
• run-of-the-mine
• good
• second-rate
• so-so
• modest
• respectable
• fine
• tolerable
• all right
• minimal
• moderate
• OK
• alright
• presentable
• sufficing
• unexceptional

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• special
• great
• excellent
• outstanding
• optimal
• superior
• distinguished
• exceptional
• classic
• optimum
• prime
• maximum
• splendid
• terrific
• supreme
• marvelous
• exquisite
• superb
• top
• first-class
• fantastic
• choice
• grand
• stellar
• fabulous
• sensational
• superlative
• nifty
• par excellence
• capital
• sterling
• peerless
• preeminent
• swell
• number one
• A1
• matchless
• unparalleled
• first-rate
• unmatched
• top-notch
• inadequate
• unsurpassed
• insufficient
• lacking
• unacceptable
• unsatisfactory
• tip-top
• deficient
• wanting

8

as in poor

of low quality

furniture of common workmanship that did not justify the high prices

Synonyms & Similar Words

• poor
• terrible
• cheap
• inferior
• bad
• rotten
• coarse
• worthless
• useless
• wretched
• low-grade
• mediocre
• shoddy
• miserable
• low-rent
• lousy
• crappy
• cheesy
• rubbishy
• bum
• counterfeit
• trashy
• execrable
• second-rate
• sleazy
• fake
• junky
• trumpery
• cheapjack
• gimcrack
• valueless
• cut-rate
• schlock
• indifferent
• el cheapo
• lackluster
• showy
• bargain-basement
• tawdry
• second-class
• meretricious
• ostentatious
• kitschy
• shabby
• gaudy
• flashy
• glitzy
• swank
• tacky
• seedy
• garish
• kitsch
• sham
• phony
• splashy
• brummagem
• ultracheap
• supercheap

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• good
• excellent
• superior
• fine
• first-class
• high-grade
• elegant
• handsome
• first-rate
• tasteful
• top-notch
• refined
• polished
• handcrafted

9

as in vulgar

lacking in refinement or good taste

embarrassed by the common manners of his new in-laws

Synonyms & Similar Words

• vulgar
• crass
• rude
• coarse
• crude
• gross
• rough
• clumsy
• low
• rugged
• uncouth
• uncultured
• lowbrow
• raffish
• unpolished
• uncultivated
• tasteless
• unrefined
• rough-hewn
• illiberal
• incult
• insensible
• ill-bred
• lowbred
• rustic
• roughneck
• unsophisticated
• cloddish
• ungentlemanly
• boorish
• loutish
• clownish
• indelicate
• churlish
• thoughtless
• insensitive
• lumpish
• provincial
• inconsiderate
• lubberly
• oafish
• barbarous
• countrified
• inelegant
• uncivilized
• barbaric
• tacky
• graceless
• unmannerly
• unmannered
• animallike
• mannerless

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• civilized
• smooth
• cultured
• cultivated
• polished
• refined
• genteel
• aristocratic
• tasteful
• elegant
• patrician
• graceful
• sensitive
• courtly
• well-bred
• restrained
• ultrarefined
• thoughtful
• sophisticated
• gracious
• considerate
• urbane
• citified

Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective common contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of common are familiar, ordinary, plain, popular, and vulgar. While all these words mean "generally met with and not in any way special, strange, or unusual," common implies usual everyday quality or frequency of occurrence and may additionally suggest inferiority or coarseness.

a common error

lacked common honesty

common manners

When would familiar be a good substitute for common?

The words familiar and common are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, familiar stresses the fact of being generally known and easily recognized.

a familiar melody

In what contexts can ordinary take the place of common?

The meanings of ordinary and common largely overlap; however, ordinary stresses conformance in quality or kind with the regular order of things.

an ordinary pleasant summer day

a very ordinary sort of man

When is plain a more appropriate choice than common?

While in some cases nearly identical to common, plain is likely to suggest homely simplicity.

plain hard-working people

When might popular be a better fit than common?

Although the words popular and common have much in common, popular applies to what is accepted by or prevalent among people in general sometimes in contrast to upper classes or special groups.

a writer of popular romances

How do vulgar and popular relate to one another, in the sense of common?

Vulgar, otherwise similar to popular, is likely to carry derogatory connotations (as of inferiority or coarseness).

souvenirs designed to appeal to the vulgar taste

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of common

The National Lunch Company terminated her employment — which was a common practice used by the white power structure in the South to punish civil rights activists. —Time, 6 Nov. 2025

The common language survived, but thinner and weaker than before. —Big Think, 6 Nov. 2025

Plus, the cookies are not decorated with Crumbl’s common drizzles, pipings or crumbles. —Sabrina Weiss, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025

Barzilay aruges that medical errors - made by doctors - are very common. —NPR, 6 Nov. 2025

Phrases Containing common

• common denominator
• common or garden
• common sense
• make common cause