garden-variety

adjective

ˈgär-dᵊn-və-ˈrī-ə-tē How to pronounce garden-variety (audio)
Definition of garden-varietynext
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 Not everything Richards played was your garden-variety, risk-averse sideways pass. — Conor O'Neill, New York Times, 13 June 2026 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 Maybe this design is a percentage point or two more efficient than a garden-variety turbo-four. — Byron Hurd, The Drive, 22 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 See All Example Sentences for garden-variety
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garden-variety
  1. normal
  2. usual
  3. ordinary
  4. ubiquitous
  5. typical
  6. common
  7. average
  8. familiar
Adjective
  • It's shot up from less than $97 at the start of the month on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Menopause is the normal part of a woman’s aging process that marks the end of her reproductive years.
    — Lyndon Haviland, Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of normal
Adjective
  • Breakfast is à la carte, with all the usual suspects, including shakshuka and avocado toast, and silver pots filled with high-octane coffee.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Nov. 2026
  • So, the high-scoring Lakers just had to play to their usual effort.
    — Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of usual
Adjective
  • When a family is one ordinary bill from the edge, its backup plan is sleeping in the car.
    — Phil Mattingly, CNN Money, 1 Nov. 2026
  • The Ohio State University In ordinary air, oxygen molecules settle onto the sensor surfaces and draw electrons away from the material, increasing its electrical resistance.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of ordinary
Adjective
  • On the title track Chen reaches for the psaltery (a kind of zither without frets), creating a meandering, medieval atmosphere whose ubiquitous electronic background buzz foreshadows the biting screams and blistering bass to come.
    — James Gui, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2026
  • No, this isn’t another ubiquitous website platform where bids for cars of unknown origin (and at times questionable quality) are seemingly submitted into the ether, and each party hopes for the best.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of ubiquitous
Adjective
  • The museum isn’t located in downtown Houston or anywhere near the stadiums, the museum district, or typical attractions people visit in the city.
    — Jill Robbins, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2026
  • The gravity on the surface can be several billion times Earth’s, and a typical neutron star’s magnetic field is billions of times stronger than Earth’s as well.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of typical
Adjective
  • That capability expanded to agriculture and meteorological purposes, eventually making Earth observation one of the most common reasons satellites and space stations are deployed into orbit today.
    — Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Other common violations include washing cars at home, filling pools and power washing, which are all disallowed.
    — Nick Sullivan, Charlotte Observer, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of common
Adjective
  • In 2025, the average accident-only pet insurance premium was $112 for cats and $190 for dogs, according to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association (NAPHIA).
    — Matt Richardson, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • West Aurora also saw improvement in its average math scores on the ACT, but saw a slight decline in ELA.
    — Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of average
Adjective
  • As the Sun meets retrograde Mercury, a familiar daily frustration could reveal the assumption underneath it.
    — Tarot.com, Hartford Courant, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The approach preserves familiar development workflows while changing how servers coordinate updates and distribute repository data.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of familiar

Browse Nearby Words

gardens
garden-variety
garderobe
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Garden-variety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garden-variety. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quondam

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All