banal
pronunciation
How to pronounce banal in British English:
UK [bəˈnɑːl]
How to pronounce banal in American English:
US [bəˈnɑːl]
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- Adjective:
- obvious and dull
- repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
Word Origin
- banal (adj.)
- "trite, commonplace," 1840, from French banal, "belonging to a manor, common, hackneyed, commonplace," from Old French banel "communal" (13c.), from ban "decree; legal control; announcement; authorization; payment for use of a communal oven, mill, etc." (see ban (v.)). The modern sense evolved from the word's use in designating things like ovens or mills that belonged to feudal serfs, or else compulsory military service; in either case it was generalized in French through "open to everyone" to "commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty."
Example
- 1. It 's nothing as banal as the old book of nature either .
- 2. He is lethally efficient in his pursuit of the banal .
- 3. But what an odd dream it was : banal and yet curiously disturbing .
- 4. To some readers , the one minute manager may seem to be every bit as banal and simplistic - as obvious , in fact - as mr dale 's the obvious .
- 5. In 2009 obama 's town-hall meeting in front of a live tv audience completely failed to resonate with most chinese because the censors made sure that only the most banal questions were posed for discussion .