as in boring
lacking in distinctive features or qualities
a plain vanilla version of a song that's been recorded more times than necessary
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of vanilla
The court has ruled that the companies must develop a new product formula that does not include vanilla derived from non-vanilla plant sources within 12 months of the settlement’s finalization, according to the news release.
—
Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for vanilla
Saleen Martin, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for vanilla
Recent Examples of Synonyms for vanilla
Adjective
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Anyone who suggests Guardiola’s title-winning Manchester City teams were boring should be forced to watch 90 minutes of Mourinho’s Chelsea versus Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool in the mid-2000s and report back.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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The details might be boring, but the gathering of money—searching gem dealers, gold dealers—was a full-time job.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The clash of views and the depth of the politics involved was further underlined by Ayoub Khan, a member of parliament for the Birmingham Perry Barr constituency, signing a petition calling for the game to be called off, staged in a neutral country or held without an away crowd.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
17 Oct. 2025
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Successful sea trial Nearly massless and electrically neutral, neutrinos are born in violent events like nuclear reactions inside stars.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Instead of the standard red, white and blue, the new version is beige, with red, brown and gold accents.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
22 Oct. 2025
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While millennials chased minimalism—think capsule wardrobes and beige apartments—Gen Z is turning up the color saturation.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Tsypkin’s account of dramatic summer of gambling and deathbed prayers is accompanied by his own melancholic photographs of nondescript walls and windows, taken on a research trip to Leningrad.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 Oct. 2025
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Hardy’s social media feed is dotted with clips of him riding the trio, usually down a nondescript dirt road somewhere in mid-Missouri.—
David Ubben,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Gardner carted his supplies to this featureless patch of earth near the fort, set up his tripods and cameras, and then arranged his dark tent nearby, out of sight of the camera’s lens.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
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These religious Iranians are bad Iranians, presented here as blandly featureless aside from their obsession with controlling women, while Roya — with her giggling desire to meet Timothée Chalamet — is recognizably more western and therefore good.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Vanilla.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/vanilla. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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