commonplace

1 being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events a commonplace occurrence Synonyms average, common, ordinary, cut-and-dried (also cut-and-dry), everyday, garden-variety, normal, prosaic, routine, run-of-the-mill, standard, standard-issue, unexceptional, unremarkable, usual, workadayRelated Words regular, typical, unextraordinary; familiar, homely, plain, plain-Jane, popular, vulgar; natural; customary, wonted; insignificant, trivial, unimportant; frequent, habitual; expected, predictableNear Antonyms curious, funny, peculiar, quaint, queer; aberrant, anomalous, atypical, irregular, untypical; rare, recherché, scarce; fantastic (also fantastical), phenomenal; bizarre, far-out, Kafkaesque, outrageous, outré, wacky (also whacky), way-out, weird, wild; eccentric, idiosyncratic, kooky (also kookie), nonconformist, oddball, offbeat, unconventional, unorthodox; freak, freakish; conspicuous, notable, novel, outstanding, prominent, salient, signal, striking, unexampled, unprecedented; singular, unique, unparalleledAntonyms abnormal, exceptional, extraordinary, odd, out-of-the-way, strange, unusual

2 often observed or encountered the large corporate mergers that have become commonplace Synonyms common or garden [chiefly British], common, everyday, familiar, frequent, garden-variety, household, ordinary, quotidian, routine, ubiquitous, usualRelated Words normal, regular, standard; de rigueur, mandatory, obligatory; general, universal; ceaseless, constant, continual, continuous, incessant, unceasing; endemic, popular, prevailing, prevalent, rampant; perennial, recurrent, repeatedNear Antonyms aberrant, abnormal, irregular, unnatural; intermittent, occasional, sporadicAntonyms extraordinary, infrequent, rare, seldom, uncommon, unfamiliar, unusual

3 used or heard so often as to be dull a thriller that uses the commonplace plot twist of the evil twin Synonyms banal, cliché (also cliche), clichéd, cobwebby, stale, hack, hackney, hackneyed, moth-eaten, musty, obligatory, shopworn, stereotyped, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, well-wornRelated Words twice-told; bromidic, platitudinal, platitudinous; canned, cardboard, conventional, cookie-cutter, derivative, imitative, ready-made, tried-and-true, unimaginative, uninspired, unoriginal; normal, ordinary, rote, routine, standard, stock, typical, usual; arid, barren, boring, colorless, drab, dreary, drudging, dry, dull, dusty, flat, heavy, ho-hum, humdrum, jading, jejune, leaden, mind-numbing, monotonous, numbing, old, pedantic, pedestrian, ponderous, prosaic, stodgy, stuffy, tame, tedious, tiresome, tiring, undramatic, uninteresting, vapid, wearisome, weary, wearying; old-fashioned, old hatNear Antonyms animating, energizing, enlivening, exciting, galvanizing, invigorating, stimulating; absorbing, engaging, engrossing, gripping, interesting, intriguing, involving, riveting; atypical, extraordinary, strange, unaccustomed, uncommon, unfamiliar, unheard-of, unknown, unprecedented, unusual; pathbreaking, pioneering, trailblazingAntonyms fresh, new, novel, original, unclichéd, unhackneyed

an idea or expression that has been used by many people the familiar summertime commonplace that “It's not the heat, it's the humidity” Synonyms banality, bromide, chestnut, cliché (also cliche), groaner, homily, platitude, shibboleth, trope, truism Related Words conventional wisdom, party line, routine; inanity; generality, generalization, simplification; adage, proverb, saw, saying; old wives' tale, stereotype Near Antonyms profundity