pedestrian

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adjective

pe·des·tri·an pə-ˈde-strē-ən

Synonyms of pedestrian next

: commonplace, unimaginative

his sentences and phrases are too often pedestrian, commonplace, and flat—

The Times Literary Supplement (London)

: going or performed on foot

pedestrian traffic

a pedestrian tour of the village

: of, relating to, or designed for walking

a pedestrian mall

a pedestrian bridge

pedestrian

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Did you know?

How Should You Use pedestrian?

Most of us know pedestrian as a noun meaning someone who travels on foot. But the adjective sense of pedestrian as defined here is actually its original meaning. To be pedestrian was to be drab or dull, as if plodding along on foot rather than speeding on horseback or by coach. Pedestrian is often used to describe a colorless or lifeless writing style, but it can also describe politicians, public tastes, personal qualities, or possessions. In comparison with the elaborate stage shows put on by today's rock artists, for instance, most of the stage presentations of 1960s rock stars seem pedestrian.

Example Sentences

Adjective He lived a pedestrian life, working at the paper mill and living in his trailer. pedestrian concerns like paying the bills and getting the kids to school on time Noun The car slid off the road and almost hit a group of pedestrians.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Elsewhere, deluxe yellow gold chains, with and without diamonds, were ubiquitous, but hardly pedestrian. —

Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 15 June 2023 Almost exactly 24 hours after the 2016 CZ31 event, at 7:37 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 30, the much larger 2013 CU83 asteroid, this one as big as 1,050 feet across, will swing by Earth at a relatively pedestrian 13,100 miles per hour, at over 3 million miles away. —

Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 27 July 2022 Pedestrian safety measures As Indianapolis reels from a record number of pedestrians killed in 2022, the Department of Public Works is spending $5.6 million on constructing pedestrian safety infrastructure at areas with high crash volume. —

The Indianapolis Star, 9 Mar. 2023 The eRV2 has a range of just 108 miles, which is even less than the e-RV’s rather pedestrian 125-mile range. —

Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 19 Jan. 2023 By comparison, Voyager I, one of the fastest probes humans have ever deployed, travels at a relatively pedestrian 38,000 mph. —

Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 21 Feb. 2020 One morning in April, Pavel Golub, the owner of a mobile-phone-accessory shop in town, walked to the pedestrian bridge and joined a large crowd of people waiting for some kind of official announcement. —

Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023 Her accomplishments include securing funding for a pedestrian bridge over Route 50 in 2009 and shepherding through the construction of the Bailey’s Upper Elementary School inside a former office building. —

Antonio Olivo, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2023 Additionally, a hike and bike trail with a pedestrian bridge will be installed along the top of the gabion wall as part of the Chisholm Trail expansion along Spring Creek. —

Dallas News, 22 Nov. 2022

Noun

The biggest danger bike riders, pedestrians and everyone else face is a transportation system built to move cars and move them quickly. —

Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 8 Sep. 2023 Early this year, members of the Naperville Transportation Advisory Board, Environment and Sustainability Task Force and city staff created a pedestrian and bicycle survey to better understand how people bike and walk in the city and to determine residents’ needs and priorities. —

Megan Jones, Chicago Tribune, 7 Sep. 2023 We’ve been focused on the bike and pedestrian experience, but the money from the new tolls is supposed to go largely towards improving transit. —

Justin Davidson, Curbed, 7 Sep. 2023 And then empty streets undermine the sense of public safety, further driving pedestrians and retailers away. —

Emily Badger, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023 The upper viewing area of Arch Rock will be closed until April 2024 to all traffic — including carriages, bicycles and pedestrians, as construction of the Milliken Nature Center begins in the area. —

Jasmin Barmore, Detroit Free Press, 2 Sep. 2023 This includes portable pedestrian crossing signs, pedestrian lighting along Alexander Road and West 220th Street and high-visibility painted crosswalks throughout the community. —

John Benson, cleveland, 28 Aug. 2023 Huberdeau, the prime offensive piece coming back in the swap, saw his production plummet his first season in Calgary from 115 points with the Panthers to a pedestrian 55 with the Flames. —

Kevin Paul Dupont, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Aug. 2023 The pedestrian was in a crosswalk when hit by a Ford F-250 turning onto Piper from a parking lot, police said. —

Anchorage Daily News, 25 Aug. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pedestrian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.