as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
another sitcom based on the banality of roommates with opposite personalities
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Recent Examples of banalities
One effect of this austerity and repression is to focus attention on Albee’s language, with its slippery banalities and barbs.
—
Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Apr. 2026
As far back as the Victorian era, exchanging a few banalities was part of a veritable social code—a way of signaling both politeness and boundaries.
—Jeanne Ballion, Vogue, 27 Dec. 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
Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Apr. 2026
As far back as the Victorian era, exchanging a few banalities was part of a veritable social code—a way of signaling both politeness and boundaries.
—Jeanne Ballion, Vogue, 27 Dec. 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banalities
Noun
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The second was that, along with the platitudes about resilience, attendees were unusually honest about the Gulf’s predicament.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
4 June 2026
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Not the word kindness, not the platitudes.—
Théoden Janes,
Charlotte Observer,
3 June 2026
Noun
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The president used similar bromides in private calls to assuage allies, including Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, before launching the war in February, according to people familiar with the conversations.—
Vivian Salama,
The Atlantic,
3 June 2026
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While these songs might appear to be somewhat straightforward EBM that wear their politics on their latex sleeve, there’s a level of ambiguity at work that moves Kissing Luck Goodbye past its own bromides and into deeper artistic territory.—
Sadie Sartini Garner,
Pitchfork,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Spain’s success over the past five years has undermined many long-standing political-economic truisms.—
Rogé Karma,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
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The play isn’t subtle; the final sequence leans hard on truisms about addiction and trauma, which are affecting but overly explicit.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In another Amsterdam photo, a pair of identical world globes, recalling Ghirri’s passion for cartography and atlases, rest on matching supports to conjure that oldest of surrealist tropes, a pair of staring eyes.—
James Quandt,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Professional arcs not entirely aside, this is a romantic comedy, full of meet-cutes and related tropes, where love rules; no one’s got it, everyone’s looking for it.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
Noun
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Sets come in half-dozens and include designs like a soccer ball, a flag, celebratory sayings in the language and a jersey, according to its website.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee
May 15,
Kansas City Star,
15 May 2026
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Readers share Mother's Day advice, funny sayings and expressions from moms.—
Letters to the Editor,
Washington Post,
8 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Banalities.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banalities. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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