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 scene that follows—an intense grief followed by a quick return to the dull and depraved routine of trying to score their next hit—captures both the extremism and the banality of addiction and homelessness. —Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2025

In a sea of facile banalities, his lyrics take us back to the golden era of Spanish language singer/songwriters, but set to contemporary arrangements that place them squarely in 2025. —Ingrid Fajardo, Billboard, 14 Feb. 2025

The movie offers phantasmagorical twists on unexceptional banalities. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2025

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