banality

noun

ba·​nal·​i·​ty bə-ˈna-lə-tē  bā- 

 also  ba-

plural banalities

1

: something that lacks originality, freshness, or novelty : something banal : commonplace

2

: the quality or state of lacking new or interesting qualities : the quality or state of being banal

Synonyms

• bromide
• chestnut
• cliché
• cliche
• commonplace
• groaner
• homily
• platitude
• shibboleth
• trope
• truism

Examples of banality in a Sentence

The trip offers an escape from the banalities of daily life.

We exchanged banalities about the weather.

The writing never rose above banality.

Recent Examples on the Web

Yesterday’s pangrams were attainability, banality and inability. —Benjamin Mueller, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025

The images are captivating in their intimacy and in their banality. —April White, JSTOR Daily, 17 Feb. 2025

Without the anchor of material reality, the life of the artist is reduced to a just-so story of soaring above banalities and complications—one that parses easily into its few dramatic through lines as if the stars were aligned from the start. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2024

Both the banality and the evil that Dana wants to investigate live within Dad and Daughter, and gradually the poison starts to seep from their memories like blood through gauze. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French banalité, from banal "available for general use, commonplace, banal" + -ité -ity

Note: The modern French word is probably an eighteenth-century coinage, and not continuous with Middle French bannalité "a feudal lord's right to extract usage fees, area under such a jurisdiction."

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for banality

• bestiality
• brutality
• carnality
• centrality
• chirality
• duality
• fatality
• finality
• formality
• frugality
• legality
• lethality