banality

noun

ba·​nal·​i·​ty bə-ˈna-lə-tē  bā- 

 also  ba-

plural banalities

1

: something that lacks originality, freshness, or novelty : something banal : commonplace

2

: the quality or state of lacking new or interesting qualities : the quality or state of being banal

Synonyms

• cliche
• cliché
• bromide
• commonplace
• platitude
• truism

Examples of banality in a Sentence

The trip offers an escape from the banalities of daily life.

We exchanged banalities about the weather.

The writing never rose above banality.

Recent Examples on the Web

Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries. —Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025

This punishing process, thread by thread, inch by inch, keeps luridness from sinking into banality. —Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025

Written by Noah Oppenheim, Bigelow’s real-time thriller about the banalities and actualities of a fictional-in-premise-only nuclear attack on the United States is Netflix’s best horse in the race at the Oscars this year. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 19 Sep. 2025

If Berríos and Eichmann had different personalities, for me ‘Black Cocaine’ is a film about the banality of evil versus total evil. —John Hopewell, Variety, 25 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French banalité, from banal "available for general use, commonplace, banal" + -ité -ity

Note: The modern French word is probably an eighteenth-century coinage, and not continuous with Middle French bannalité "a feudal lord's right to extract usage fees, area under such a jurisdiction."

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for banality

• bestiality
• brutality
• carnality
• centrality
• chirality
• duality
• fatality
• finality
• formality
• frugality
• legality
• lethality