1
as in normal
being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events
the once-powerful hurricane eventually abated into just a garden-variety tropical storm
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in usual
often observed or encountered
the bakery's extravagant creations are not your garden-variety wedding cakes
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 garden-variety
But peppered in between the back-and-forth comments with garden-variety Internet trolls are criticisms of his onetime colleagues.
—
Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
All of which might be dismissed as garden-variety conspiracy, not to mention being beyond the organizational capacity of the Democratic Party.
—Chris Smith, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
This will not be your garden-variety sports labor dispute.
—Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Mar. 2026
Sure, there are your garden-variety influencers with their performative prossecco and rental resortwear, but these guests don’t announce their net worth—because their wears do it for them.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
Underneath, a few key upgrades set it apart from the garden-variety wagon.
—Byron Hurd, The Drive, 22 Jan. 2026
In a career spanning six decades, Weir was key to developing the Grateful Dead from garden-variety psychedelic rockers as the Warlocks to godfathers of the jam band genre.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 15 Jan. 2026
Some point to the usual suspects — the Illuminati, Bohemian Grove, garden-variety Satanists.
—Lane Brown, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
Teddy’s reasoning is a confusion of save-the-world alarmism, garden-variety derangement, unhealed trauma, and single-minded revenge.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
All of which might be dismissed as garden-variety conspiracy, not to mention being beyond the organizational capacity of the Democratic Party.
—Chris Smith, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
This will not be your garden-variety sports labor dispute.
—Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Mar. 2026
Sure, there are your garden-variety influencers with their performative prossecco and rental resortwear, but these guests don’t announce their net worth—because their wears do it for them.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 11 Feb. 2026
Underneath, a few key upgrades set it apart from the garden-variety wagon.
—Byron Hurd, The Drive, 22 Jan. 2026
In a career spanning six decades, Weir was key to developing the Grateful Dead from garden-variety psychedelic rockers as the Warlocks to godfathers of the jam band genre.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 15 Jan. 2026
Some point to the usual suspects — the Illuminati, Bohemian Grove, garden-variety Satanists.
—Lane Brown, Vulture, 17 Dec. 2025
Teddy’s reasoning is a confusion of save-the-world alarmism, garden-variety derangement, unhealed trauma, and single-minded revenge.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garden-variety
Adjective
-
Now that the garden is complete aside from normal plant replacements, Sterman recognizes it as the expression of her own evolution and growth as a garden designer as well as changing views on waterwise gardening.—
Nicole Sours Larson,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 June 2026
-
The West Coast is also bracing for rising temperatures, with highs climbing to 10 to 25 degrees above normal this weekend.—
Christine Rapp,
NBC news,
13 June 2026
Adjective
-
Cynthia goes down the list of people Shamea is clashing with and, as usual, all roads lead to Porsha.—
Ile-Ife Okantah,
Vulture,
15 June 2026
-
The scramble as the deadline approached was more intense than usual this year because of the state’s new congressional districts, which upended the careers of incumbents and opened opportunities for a slew of other hopefuls.—
Anthony Man,
Sun Sentinel,
14 June 2026
Adjective
-
Antimatter is just a form of matter made of particles that have the same mass as ordinary matter, but opposite charges and quantum properties.—
Christopher Karwin,
The Conversation,
8 June 2026
-
Obfuscated servers make your VPN traffic look like ordinary HTTPS web traffic.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
In the final weeks of the campaign, Pratt became ubiquitous in the national media.—
National Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
-
This type of signage became so ubiquitous and so grotesquely huge across the city as businesses advertised and competed for visual attention that they were forcefully phased out by the government in the 2010s and replaced by Korean letters tastefully cut out to be lit from within instead.—
Anton Hur,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 June 2026
Adjective
-
Once the Islander opened the door, in typical Love Island USA fashion, they were prompted to kiss the other islanders with common interests.—
Carolyn Burt,
Oc Register,
9 June 2026
-
In the Veritasium video, Humphreys speculated that the Russians may have been testing the satellites’ GPS interference capabilities only briefly on a neighboring frequency adjacent to the typical GPS band.—
Jeremy Hsu,
ArsTechnica,
8 June 2026
Adjective
-
Earlier this year, Cagle told the city council that around half of all bus and light rail riders are not paying their fares, with rail evasion the most common occurrence.—
DJ Simmons,
Charlotte Observer,
12 June 2026
-
One of the world’s most durable and amicable alliances — born of geography, heritage and centuries of common interests — is broken, as seen in several recent examples of tension between leaders.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
Conversely, the department said its review of medical school admissions data from 2023 to 2025 found that 93% of white and certain Asian applicants had MCAT scores at or above those of the average Black student.—
Andrew J. Campa,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
-
In 2012, the average American adult shifted focus after 74 seconds; today, that’s down to 47 seconds.—
Christian Perry,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Adjective
-
She is expected to appear Monday through Wednesday of next week, according to two people familiar with the matter.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
11 June 2026
-
The research is clear that a familiar, gentle fragrance can slow breathing, soften stress and turn a room into a memory.—
Lauren Jarvis-Gibson,
Miami Herald,
11 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Garden-variety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garden-variety. Accessed 15 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
