1
as in boring
lacking in qualities that make for spirit and character
unlike their early work, the band's latest offering is banal and uninspiring
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull
please find new ways of phrasing your thoughts instead of relying on banal expressions
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of banal
All game was fair game, and eating wild things was both luxurious and banal—throughout the country the consumption of wild animals was entirely typical.
—
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
Two characters who were stressed about keeping a secret had vocal inflections that could only be described as banal.
—
Corbin Bolies,
Variety,
10 June 2026
Yet despite their cultural staying power, power ballads have historically received little scholarly attention, in part because they are often dismissed as schlocky and banal.
—
Angelica Frey,
JSTOR Daily,
22 May 2026
This season, they’re being shown turning to OnlyFans to do the banal, but crucial, thing of putting money in their pockets.
—
Alli Rosenbloom,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for banal
Literary Hub,
10 June 2026
Two characters who were stressed about keeping a secret had vocal inflections that could only be described as banal.
—
Corbin Bolies,
Variety,
10 June 2026
Yet despite their cultural staying power, power ballads have historically received little scholarly attention, in part because they are often dismissed as schlocky and banal.
—
Angelica Frey,
JSTOR Daily,
22 May 2026
This season, they’re being shown turning to OnlyFans to do the banal, but crucial, thing of putting money in their pockets.
—
Alli Rosenbloom,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for banal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banal
Adjective
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Far fewer people stay responsible when the work turns boring, unclear or inconvenient, and that's precisely when ownership surfaces.
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Monocultures can be boring, but on the flipside, a huge collection of individual species looks like a busy bowl of potpourri.
Adjective
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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.
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In some cases, praise took on overtly stereotyped forms: words like 'love' were used disproportionately with female students, while 'powerful' appeared only for Black students.
Adjective
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But together, the whole is blander than the sum of its parts—a subtle banality humans can often implicitly sense.
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The smallest pieces will turn a bland outfit into an Instagram-worthy moment.
Adjective
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Depredation occurs when a shark steals an angler’s catch off their line, and Florida’s fishers are tired of it.
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Pugh is tired of seeing her mom suffer by no fault of her own.
Adjective
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That’s how long Thomas Tuchel’s team waited to produce a lifeless and insipid performance against Ghana that prompted many to re-evaluate the Three Lions’ chances of winning the whole thing this summer.
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Faced with insipid economic growth, politicians have not taken the action necessary to spark a resurgence, such as capital and digital markets reform, lower levels of regulation and lower business taxes.
Adjective
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Using ChatGPT, Gemini, and other artificial intelligence platforms to make everyday decisions has become commonplace.
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When spreadsheets became commonplace, companies did not hire fewer finance professionals.
Adjective
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But all work and no play can make for a dull chief scientific officer.
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The great speculators became talkative and communicative or dull, sullen, silent, and peevish.
Adjective
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Maybe so, but think of how badly Congress had stated those hackneyed ideas.
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While not exactly a feminist screed, the script grants nary a free pass to the glut of hackneyed gender conventions in the golden-age canon without at least cracking a joke.
Cite this Entry
“Banal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banal. Accessed 4 Jul. 2026.
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