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 cliche
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
Their activities might seem banal — carrying a bag of groceries filled with fruits and vegetables, or a fluffy white cat — but the sharp color coordination and gussied up models give the images a psychedelic feel.
—
Kati Chitrakorn, CNN Money, 31 Mar. 2025
Often sports litigations begin with dramatic assertions and intriguing legal theories only to end in confidential settlements and banal PR statements.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 15 Mar. 2025
What’s immediately striking is how quickly and economically its characters are established in medias res, through seemingly banal conversation and hints of individual personality just divergent enough to cause friction.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 9 Mar. 2025
And, in every case, banal commentary is slowly occluding the art, seeping into it in boldface titles or explainers that speak over the sound or cover the image.
—Namwali Serpell, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for banal
Kati Chitrakorn, CNN Money, 31 Mar. 2025
Often sports litigations begin with dramatic assertions and intriguing legal theories only to end in confidential settlements and banal PR statements.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 15 Mar. 2025
What’s immediately striking is how quickly and economically its characters are established in medias res, through seemingly banal conversation and hints of individual personality just divergent enough to cause friction.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 9 Mar. 2025
And, in every case, banal commentary is slowly occluding the art, seeping into it in boldface titles or explainers that speak over the sound or cover the image.
—Namwali Serpell, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for banal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banal
Adjective
-
Camilla told Newsweek that her husband, Linford, 32, works as a tunnel boring machine operator in London.—
Arick Wierson,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 Apr. 2025
-
Take it from this guy, who bought the beautiful Starfield limited-edition Xbox controller, headset, and console wrap for over $200, only to play the game and dump it after 20 boring hours.—
Matt Gardner,
Forbes.com,
16 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Is paradise a bland suburbia with a quaint downtown selling specialty ice cream to be eaten under a nearby gazebo?—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
28 Jan. 2025
-
The tone is all over the place, whipping back and forth between end-of-the-world seriousness and bland comedy.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
28 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
At the time, Latinos were often cast in stereotyped roles with heavy accents and largely denied the opportunity to direct features.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
17 Mar. 2025
-
Tragedies can be examined by those outside of its sphere of destruction, but the groundswell of feeling from Mexican viewers and critics is that there was little or no care taken to understand the cultural grief beyond stereotyped spectacle.—
Lucy Ford,
TIME,
24 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
Bored of an increasingly insipid Premier League season?—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2025
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The framing, blocking, and overall visual grammar have a condescending air, as if directors have surrendered to some insipid idea of who their audience is.—
Angelica Jade Bastién,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Robbins was mostly Black, a place built by Black people who were tired of racial conflict in Chicago.—
D. Watkins,
The Atlantic,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Was Michelle ever tired of using the vibrator all the time in the show?—
Lexi Carson,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The additional compounds in matcha dull this effect.—
Helen Carefoot,
Verywell Health,
11 Apr. 2025
-
For the rest of us, a real musical comedy is a cause for celebration; most are either too tuneless to be musicals or too dull to be comedies.—
Jesse Green,
New York Times,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Direct trade models that are commonplace in the coffee industry are not so in the tea industry (albeit not unheard of), because of the way the majority of the latter operates through world market auctions and regional export/importers.—
Christopher Marquis,
Forbes.com,
8 Apr. 2025
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But for others, particularly younger Americans, this could be the season of life where receiving wedding invitations is commonplace, and the costs are adding up.—
Nerdwallet,
Oc Register,
4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Ultimately, many on the internet have identified this week as a particularly tiring one for Black K-pop fans.—
Jennifer Zhan,
Vulture,
6 Apr. 2025
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Of course, going from shows to pickleball classes to after-hours jam sessions at B.B. King’s Blues Club can be tiring.—
DeMarco Williams,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Banal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banal. Accessed 20 Apr. 2025.
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