Definition of banalitynext
as in cliché
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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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 banality Commentary and opinions In his latest column, Gustavo Arellano breaks down the banality of evil in the Border Patrol’s secret anti-immigrant slur. — Los Angeles Times, 31 July 2026 And yet for God’s sake, just look at the man—at his dispiriting attempts at humor, his weirdly off-putting outfits, his incessant posting of banalities and faux profundities and extreme-right disinformation on social media. — Mark O’Connell, The New York Review of Books, 4 July 2026 But together, the whole is blander than the sum of its parts—a subtle banality humans can often implicitly sense. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 29 June 2026 Here, Laura, a magazine writer in London, drifts through old friendships, failed romances, and the gothic banalities of family life. — Air Mail, 20 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for banality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banality
Noun
  • Physicists at The City College of New York have demonstrated microwave-to-optical conversion using chromium sulfide bromide, or CrSBr.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The fire contained compounds from more than two dozen chemical families, including dangerous amounts of bromide, a naturally occurring element that can irritate the skin and mucus membranes.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 29 June 2026
Noun
  • Wolff was only the eighth woman to drive a Formula 1 car (four more have done it since); the role, a now-commonplace one that includes driving the simulator during Grand Prix weekends to inform trackside strategy, was created for her.
    — Danielle McNally, InStyle, 28 May 2026
  • The videos are often integrated into larger montages of drone strikes, underscoring how commonplace these drones have become for Russian forces.
    — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 23 May 2026
Noun
  • By platitudes like a peaceful and dignified death and silly words like natural.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 24 Sep. 2026
  • Running parallel to this butchery investigation is the arrival of perpetually hungover FBI agent Gwen Birgssen, played by British actress Lily James with an incomprehensible southern drawl and some clunky platitudes that veer into genre parody.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • With all the hype surrounding potential uses of AI tools, this is a truism that too often gets forgotten.
    — Bryan Mistele, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Noun
  • Relying on the tropes rather than having fun with them, thwarting them.
    — Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 23 Sep. 2026
  • So many people had beaten the trope and the genre of romantic comedy to a doormat.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 21 Sep. 2026
Noun
  • The title is from [the saying] 50 is the youth of old age, but … 40 is the old age of youth.
    — Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Alas, poor Bryan is about to learn the hard way that change — as the saying goes — is as hard to outrun as an ever-growing zombie rat king with 37 different limbs and a weirdly personal vendetta.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 16 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Banality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banality. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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