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
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Recent Examples of garden-variety
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
But Tatum is more than just your garden-variety charmer.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
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
But Tatum is more than just your garden-variety charmer.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 10 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garden-variety
Adjective
-
The mall resumed operations as normal following the shooting, as police determined there was no threat to the general public.—
Andrew Adeolu,
CBS News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Waymo vehicles also can take 30 minutes to wait for and twice as long as a normal ride.—
Michael Butler,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The tank was placed on the ice March 10 and fell through by March 25, weeks earlier than usual.—
Spencer Wilson,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
-
The injury riddled Kings — playing their second game in 24 hours and their third in four nights — were even more shorthanded than usual.—
Jason Anderson,
Sacbee.com,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Deuterium can replace one or both of the ordinary hydrogen atoms in water, which is what scientists mean by deuterium enrichment.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
30 Mar. 2026
-
For instance, investments that give off income that is taxed at ordinary rates go into retirement accounts like IRAs, said CFP Cathy Curtis, founder and CEO of Curtis Financial Planning.—
Michelle Fox,
CNBC,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Cheap, ubiquitous and always on, cameras are uniquely useful targets.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
26 Mar. 2026
-
Netflix became ubiquitous as a subscription product, while YouTube became the go-to platform for younger (and then increasingly older) viewing habits.—
Andrew Marchand,
New York Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Games that still are too typical of the NCAA women’s tournament where the higher seed seldom loses.—
Mac Engel
March 31,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Food and drink At first glance, Harriet’s Rooftop & Lounge seemed like a typical NYC rooftop—the kind of place where views take priority and food is an afterthought.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
30 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The year was 1754, and Franklin's goal was to unite the disparate colonies into a coalition against a common enemy.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Sei whales are endangered and are common in the Southeast's waters.—
Alexa Herrera,
CBS News,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Thousands are now not showing up for work, hundreds have quit altogether, and the average wait time at airports has reached record levels.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
26 Mar. 2026
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That’s the view of Robinhood, which counts 250,000 customers paying on average $250 annually to use its Strategies, an AI tool guided by human advisors.—
Jeff John Roberts,
Fortune,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Steeped in international cinema, Haghighi has since taken familiar tropes, forms, and genres and bent them in new directions.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
-
So California may be readying to wage a two-front battle — the familiar one against smog, but a second, altogether new one, against an administration determined to let California get smoggy again.—
Patt Morrison,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Garden-variety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garden-variety. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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