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
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Recent Examples of banality
With The Chair Company, Robinson and his longtime partner in crime, Zach Kanin, take the motifs that long peppered their work (drab offices, social faux pas, screaming men, sweaty entitlement) and stretch them into a fever dream of horror in the banality.
—
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
The novel’s power lies in its relentless banality—the mind churning while life’s machinery grinds on.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 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
See All Example Sentences for banality
Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
The novel’s power lies in its relentless banality—the mind churning while life’s machinery grinds on.
—The New Yorker, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries.
—Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 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
See All Example Sentences for banality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banality
Noun
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Despite their clear affection for these women, the Dardenne brothers never sugarcoat their characters’ unenviable circumstance or latch onto phony bromides to alleviate our anxiety.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026
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Doping the Undopable The work focuses on cesium lead bromide nanoparticles known as CsPbBr3.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The most commonplace and the most concerning, as a consequence, come by way of phishing campaigns.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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The 1945 War Brides Act largely diverged from these previous measures, helping to dismantle the Asian exclusion made commonplace in the 19th and early 20th centuries.—
Anna Storti,
The Conversation,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Google is famous for dodging questions by reciting platitudes on its calls.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
30 Jan. 2026
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Too often, sustainability messaging swings between vague platitudes and overwhelming detail.—
Jeff Fromm,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Mayors of other county cities have recently validated that truism.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
31 Jan. 2026
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Warfare Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The cast includes Black Ops star Hammed Animashaun, Emma Sidi, who played Rose Matafeo’s flatmate in Starstruck, and Al Nash, a viral comic who satirizes social media tropes.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
6 Feb. 2026
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Portraying Black people as monkeys or apes is a racist trope with historical roots in eugenics.—
Kinsey Crowley,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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As the saying goes, a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
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There’s an old saying that demographics are destiny.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
5 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Banality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banality. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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