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Definition of commonplacenext
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as in cliché
an idea or expression that has been used by many people the familiar summertime commonplace that "It's not the heat, it's the humidity"

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 commonplace
Adjective
As Meta glasses have become more commonplace, hobbyist programmers have been building apps to detect when smart glasses are nearby so people can steer clear of them. Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026 Even before permanent communities became commonplace around the world, some groups were already learning to thrive in seemingly inhospitable conditions. Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 20 Aug. 2026
Noun
Or is this commonplace in NBA transactions? Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 3 May 2026 In the early 2000s, Sears began to use its website — the new iteration of its catalog — to help pioneer the now-commonplace practices of buying goods online and picking them up in store. Domenica Bongiovanni, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for commonplace
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commonplace
Adjective
  • Some artists who do Bowl shows with the LA Phil or its sister symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, run through something close to their normal set and require whoever is assigned to do the orchestrations to follow suit.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Aug. 2026
  • In the first two years alone, over 600 workers exceeded the normal safety limit of 50 mSv per year.
    Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 24 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • If cave paintings tell the stories of the earliest human life, factices — the once-ubiquitous oversized perfume bottle replicas — play a similar role in revealing the histories of fragrance.
    Noor Lobad, Footwear News, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Although air conditioning is not ubiquitous across the continent - at least not yet - its use is increasing.
    Brian Sullivan, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Despite their outer appearances and oftentimes stereotyped personalities, the ladies embrace each other’s depths and contradictions.
    Meagan Jordan, VIBE.com, 10 July 2026
  • This is a directed, stereotyped behavior in which the highest-resolution region of the somatosensory surface is brought to bear on the object requiring the most detailed analysis.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 20 May 2026
Noun
  • Wars cannot be fought on ideology alone – a truism that perhaps led to the firebrand former defense minister’s departure, after months of clashes and refusing to deal with the army top brass, as Zelensky describes it.
    Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
  • But most politicians are pretty easily replaced, a truism that Moreno reinforced by going public.
    Benjamin Wallace-Wells, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Audiences embraced the films for their creeping realism and slow-building scares, which transformed ordinary bedrooms, hallways and home security cameras into places where something terrifying might be lurking just outside the frame.
    Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The new measure comes as Moscow and Kyiv ramp up their air campaigns, with Ukrainian strikes deep into Russian territory sparking fuel shortages and bringing the war closer to home for ordinary Russians.
    Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 25 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • For Panama, the result is a wet season that’s already been drier than usual and is likely to get worse.
    Hira Humayun, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • New York City sanitation workers say their job has been pricklier than usual after the Department of Sanitation reported an increase in needle stick injuries.
    Noelle Lilley, CBS News, 21 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • His handicapping merited attention and newsletter sales, but Steele soon tired of tipping his own hand to the oddsmakers in Vegas.
    Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
  • More and more young people are turning toward low- or no-tech lives, tired of the endless scroll most of us face for hours each day.
    Greta Cross, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
Noun
  • Then morning would come, with all the banalities that drew them apart.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Of course, when a person live-streams long enough, banality can eventually give way to horror.
    Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Commonplace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commonplace. Accessed 29 Aug. 2026.

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