1
as in normal
being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events
a commonplace occurrence
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in ubiquitous
often observed or encountered
the large corporate mergers that have become commonplace
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3
as in cliche
used or heard so often as to be dull
a thriller that uses the commonplace plot twist of the evil twin
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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"
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of commonplace
Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2025
In the days after, cancellations and postponements had become more commonplace for goods out of China across industries due to the uncertainty over the cost increases.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 9 May 2025
Michaelangelo Matos, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2024
Neumann was a lifelong social democrat whose writings evince neither sympathy for Soviet communism nor any whiff of the fellow-traveling commonplace among radicals during the 1930s and 1940s.
—William E. Scheuerman, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2013
See All Example Sentences for commonplace
Adjective
For much of Friday, the Dodgers seemed headed to the kind of loss that had become commonplace over their 10-11 slide entering the night.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 31 May 2025
In the days after, cancellations and postponements had become more commonplace for goods out of China across industries due to the uncertainty over the cost increases.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 9 May 2025
Noun
Tour ’74 was Dylan’s first-ever arena tour—a rock commonplace by 1974 that had not even been imaginable in 1966.
—Michaelangelo Matos, Rolling Stone, 17 Sep. 2024
Neumann was a lifelong social democrat whose writings evince neither sympathy for Soviet communism nor any whiff of the fellow-traveling commonplace among radicals during the 1930s and 1940s.
—William E. Scheuerman, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2013
See All Example Sentences for commonplace
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commonplace
Adjective
-
In the months since Trump was reelected and returned to the White House, American doctors have shown skyrocketing interest in becoming licensed in Canada, where dozens more than normal have already been cleared to practice, according to Canadian licensing officials and recruiting businesses.—
Brett Kelman,
NPR,
29 May 2025
-
In a revealing interview on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, Omos detailed his journey from assuming his rapid growth was normal to facing a critical health crisis.—
Andrew Ravens,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 May 2025
Adjective
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Reflective writing, another recent trend, is practically ubiquitous in medical schools and residency programs, and there is some evidence that writing may make doctors more empathetic and observant.—
Danielle Ofri,
New Yorker,
7 June 2025
-
Smart lawn mowers certainly aren't as ubiquitous as their indoor, floor-cleaning counterparts, and there are several good reasons for that.—
John Mihaly,
PC Magazine,
6 June 2025
Noun
-
So at least in her case, the Wild West cliches hold pretty true.—
Erik Pedersen,
Oc Register,
30 May 2025
-
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
Adjective
-
Stephen King’s novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.—
Andrew Torgan,
CNN Money,
1 June 2025
-
In other words, Catherine is a nice, ordinary middle-class English girl.—
Adelle Waldman,
New Yorker,
31 May 2025
Adjective
-
Nvidia’s Jensen Huang was more somber than usual on the AI juggernaut’s conference call following its blockbuster earnings, according to CNBC’s Kristina Partsinevelos , who has been analyzing all the action in the cult stock for the last 24 hours.—
John Melloy,
CNBC,
29 May 2025
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Recruiters are no longer confined to hiring in the same usual saturated areas, benefiting emerging tech hubs.—
Nacho De Marco,
Forbes.com,
29 May 2025
Adjective
-
Several leaders described the pressure of being both highly visible and easily stereotyped.—
Benjamin Laker,
Forbes.com,
13 May 2025
-
Their negative stereotyped reputation seems to follow them like ageism follows older employees or sexism follows female employees.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
This choice allows the plants to make maximum use of the soil's water and nutrients resources, particularly important in the poor soils and arid climates typical of Apulia.—
Elisabetta Tosi,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
-
Bacalao is served in all manner of dishes; one of the most popular is with pil-pil sauce, made of olive oil, garlic and the juice of the fish, and typical in the Basque Country.—
Jon Yeomans,
CNN Money,
7 June 2025
Adjective
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The latter star has landed a number of hits throughout the past few years by repurposing melodies and interpolating hooks from older, familiar smashes by other artists, reworking them into something exciting and new for a different audience.—
Hugh McIntyre,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
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Image These Days by Lucy Caldwell London during the Blitz has become a familiar subject of World War II fiction.—
Alida Becker,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Commonplace.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commonplace. Accessed 12 Jun. 2025.
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