commonplace 1 of 2

1
2
3

commonplace

2 of 2

noun

as in cliché
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 & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 commonplace
Adjective
Hail, tornadoes and drought are all commonplace in the region. Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2025 Claims about the health and beauty benefits of collagen supplements are commonplace these days, especially online. Maria Godoy, NPR, 20 Oct. 2025
Noun
And with a rise in pro salaries making skipping college more commonplace for America’s teenage prospects, the landscape has further shifted and opened up. Molly Geary, Sportico.com, 4 Sep. 2025 The concept art in question is action-heavy, suggesting the sort of setpiece more commonplace in a CG blockbuster. Blake Simons, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for commonplace
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commonplace
Adjective
  • Delays start to increase On Day 31 of the 2019 shutdown, 10% of TSA workers called in sick - triple the normal absence rate.
    Doyinsola Oladipo, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
  • Even though there were rumors about layoffs the day before, everything had seemed relatively normal.
    Lea Chen, CNBC, 4 Nov. 2025
Adjective
  • Her heels are crafted from satin — a ubiquitous look this fall — and are set on a 110mm heel.
    Kelsey Stewart, Footwear News, 31 Oct. 2025
  • For people under 30, who may not even remember a time when influencers were not ubiquitous, as well as all manner of marketers and salespeople, the term’s connotations tend to be neutral to positive.
    Judy Berman, Time, 30 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Several leaders described the pressure of being both highly visible and easily stereotyped.
    Benjamin Laker, Forbes.com, 13 May 2025
  • At the time, Latinos were often cast in stereotyped roles with heavy accents and largely denied the opportunity to direct features.
    Maximilíano Durón, ARTnews.com, 17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Second is its patience, which leads to some extremely effective scares as producer/writer/director/cinematographer/editor Oren Peli spins the tale of an ordinary suburban couple terrorized by an unseen entity.
    Katie Rife, Entertainment Weekly, 29 Oct. 2025
  • What separates them from ordinary companies isn’t better strategy.
    Big Think, Big Think, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • The team's usual coach, JP MacCallum, took time off after his 10-year-old daughter, Selah, died of cancer, per Marchand's Instagram post.
    Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 30 Oct. 2025
  • Blank sailings have only gotten more prevalent as ocean carriers aimed to stop months of declines in freight rates after a softer-than-usual peak shipping season.
    Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Stein conducted experiments under James’s supervision, but quickly tired of studying her subjects’ responses and preferred talking with them and tracking their characters.
    Daphne Merkin, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025
  • If tired, float or tread water until out of the rip current.
    NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 31 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025
  • One ironclad truism about sports is that all streaks eventually come to an end.
    Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • All are dressed in period garb — Clarkson in a gorgeous gown and her band, My Band Y’all, led by musical director and keyboardist Jason Halbert, in formal white dinner jackets typical of musical acts at the time.
    Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 31 Oct. 2025
  • Alternatives to typical iron supplements to consider include intravenous (IV) iron, slow-release oral iron tablets, and dietary iron.
    Emmanuella Ogbonna, Health, 31 Oct. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Commonplace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commonplace. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on commonplace

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!