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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of banality
The film is a harrowing look at the banality of evil in its most dangerous form.
—
Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026
Openness comes from these encounters with banality and consistency.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
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
See All Example Sentences for banality
Kevin Jacobsen, Entertainment Weekly, 28 Jan. 2026
Openness comes from these encounters with banality and consistency.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
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
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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Such double-headers are far from commonplace in English football, but are becoming more frequent.—
Gregg Evans,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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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
Noun
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Li shook hands with Whitmarsh and exchanged platitudes with the other guests.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
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The gap between $0 and $600 million makes his observation harder to dismiss as a platitude.—
Ryan Brennan
March 3,
Charlotte Observer,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That is a truism of NFL free agency.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 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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Sure, Gyeong-nam is outwardly stoic and hard to read, but his tsundere trajectory and the office romance setting of his romance with Mi-rae are their own polished tropes.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
6 Mar. 2026
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Blood Meridian throws out the Western trope of good versus evil in favor of a nihilist view of a world consumed by violence.—
Carolina A. Miranda,
The Atlantic,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
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So to get to be playing the character who originated a saying that is a huge part of my vocabulary — and that I’ve been so obsessed with for so long — is crazy.—
Brian Davids,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Mar. 2026
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Models are born, not made, to tweak Simone de Beauvoir’s famous saying.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Banality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banality. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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