as in cliche
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 The scene that follows—an intense grief followed by a quick return to the dull and depraved routine of trying to score their next hit—captures both the extremism and the banality of addiction and homelessness. Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2025 In a sea of facile banalities, his lyrics take us back to the golden era of Spanish language singer/songwriters, but set to contemporary arrangements that place them squarely in 2025. Ingrid Fajardo, Billboard, 14 Feb. 2025 The movie offers phantasmagorical twists on unexceptional banalities. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2025 While the American version of The Office may be one of the most beloved shows in TV history, in my eyes, nothing can beat the British original—whether for sheer cringe-per-minute, or the desperately drab banality of the commuter belt town of Slough. Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 31 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for banality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banality
Noun
  • Nonetheless, there is a satisfying, compact completeness to their handling of the storylines of four different young mothers and sufficient grace notes are enabled in each case to stave off the cliches that occasionally threaten to engulf events.
    Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 23 May 2025
  • Democrats kept presenting cliches as insights and old ideas as new ideas.
    Charlotte Alter, Time, 19 May 2025
Noun
  • The teenage Miller invited Horowitz to speak at Santa Monica High School in the early aughts, entranced by his bromides against multiculturalism.
    Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 7 May 2025
  • South Carolina and other states had in the past had difficulty obtaining some drugs for lethal injections, including sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide, due to shortages.
    Kristin Wright, NPR, 25 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Luxury scented candles, like room sprays for that matter, have the power to elevate any moment: taking it from commonplace to utterly indulgent.
    Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 26 Mar. 2025
  • The Grand Ole Opry House holds 4,400 people, but can’t accommodate standing-room tours, a commonplace in genres like EDM and hip-hop.
    Matthew Leimkuehler, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • When any Democratic politician, including Gov. JB Pritzker, dares to stand up to extreme Republican rhetoric with any language beyond polite pablum and pious platitudes, pundits tell Democrats to lower the volume, cut the contempt and be nice.
    Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2025
  • Retreats have this effect on a person, bring out in you the worst platitudes.
    Lamorna Ash, The Dial, 6 May 2025
Noun
  • Democrats who look to California for inspiration would do well to keep that simple truism in mind.
    Editorial, Boston Herald, 13 Apr. 2025
  • All the players corroborate a truism: Politics attracts deformed personalities featuring an insatiable lust of power for the sake of power to fuel self-esteem.
    Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 1 May 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Banality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banality. Accessed 27 May. 2025.

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