1
as in boring
lacking in qualities that make for spirit and character
unlike their early work, the band's latest offering is banal and uninspiring
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in cliche
used or heard so often as to be dull
please find new ways of phrasing your thoughts instead of relying on banal expressions
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of banal
But Sophie’s name transforms a banal photograph into a picture that leads us into a world of families and the complicated racial politics of the 19th-century West.
—
Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Her feeds from Paris Fashion Week 2016 are a representative sample—a pacifying stream of cream and white, diamonds and lace, outsize wealth made as banal as breakfast.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 19 May 2025
The internet has encouraged only more comparison, and more consternation—more places to argue, more pressure to make even the most banal parts of our lives beautiful.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
Beyond that, this is a ridiculously byzantine framework to apply to something as banal as plumbing fixture flow rates.
—The Editors, National Review, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for banal
Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Apr. 2025
Her feeds from Paris Fashion Week 2016 are a representative sample—a pacifying stream of cream and white, diamonds and lace, outsize wealth made as banal as breakfast.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 19 May 2025
The internet has encouraged only more comparison, and more consternation—more places to argue, more pressure to make even the most banal parts of our lives beautiful.
—Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 14 Apr. 2025
Beyond that, this is a ridiculously byzantine framework to apply to something as banal as plumbing fixture flow rates.
—The Editors, National Review, 11 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for banal
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banal
Adjective
-
Belief that your institution is exempt from the hard, functional and often boring parts of the job leads to a slow decline.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
-
As a small-market team, for the majority of my life, Indiana has been looked at as boring or whatever the case may be.—
Peter Sblendorio,
New York Daily News,
20 May 2025
Adjective
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Harrison confidently adopts the take-no-prisoners physicality that makes Zephyr a worthy foe for Tucker, but her line readings are bland, doing nothing to enliven the basic script by Nick Lepard.—
Esther Zuckerman,
IndieWire,
17 May 2025
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Bonnin serves up the same kind of comfort food Cécile’s parents serve to their truckers, easy to enjoy but ultimately a bit bland.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
13 May 2025
Adjective
-
Several leaders described the pressure of being both highly visible and easily stereotyped.—
Benjamin Laker,
Forbes.com,
13 May 2025
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Their negative stereotyped reputation seems to follow them like ageism follows older employees or sexism follows female employees.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Brazil were insipid at last summer’s Copa America and have gone downhill since.—
Jack Lang,
New York Times,
16 May 2025
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Little Dog asks, an insipid comparison that illuminates only the fungibility of abstract nouns.—
Andrea Long Chu,
Vulture,
6 May 2025
Adjective
-
While infants and toddlers between the ages of 0 to 2 years are more likely to experience a stuffy nose, cough, poor appetite, fussiness, and sleep problems, children between the ages of 3 to 5 years mainly complain of sleepiness, feeling tired during daytime, low energy and dry cough.—
Anuradha Varanasi,
Forbes.com,
31 May 2025
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Family members said Jacobs had talked about feeling tired, but not about wanting to take his own life.—
Ames Alexander,
Charlotte Observer,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
The bittersweet result didn’t dull a remarkable career and legacy for Kelly.—
Patrick Z. McGavin,
Chicago Tribune,
31 May 2025
-
But the drama can be very stolid, borderline dull at times.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
24 May 2025
Adjective
-
Seemingly once-in-a-lifetime events are now commonplace.—
Kian Bakhtiari,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
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Blocking Fox News-watching and Truth Social-subscribing friends, cousins and siblings from social media feeds has become commonplace.—
Christine Ledbetter,
Chicago Tribune,
22 May 2025
Adjective
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Of course, all that excitement does get tiring after a while, and the dogs in side B eventually wind down for a brief nap.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Apr. 2025
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At-home blowouts are hard; even when armed with the right tutorials and top-of-the-line tools, all the maneuvering gets tiring quickly.—
Kylee McGuigan,
Vogue,
12 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Banal.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banal. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.
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