as in cliche
an idea or expression that has been used by many people another sitcom based on the banality of roommates with opposite personalities

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of banality And banality – well, that has a little bit to do with the uncanny valley. John Werner, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2025 The banality of state terror infecting common lives is what makes The Seed of the Sacred Fig so recognizable. Armond White, National Review, 22 Jan. 2025 Perhaps there’s something melancholy but appealing about the idea of a passionate romance that speeds up time, leaving one person with only difficult but beautiful memories, instead of the banalities of daily life that accompany a long partnership. Alissa Wilkinson, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025 The movie highlights the ‘banality of evil,’ a phrase coined by Hannah Arendt, and puts forward the idea that the commandant was just a person, not a monster. Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, 17 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for banality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for banality
Noun
  • But my money’s on Baker, one of the world’s finest filmmakers who tells stories about characters Hollywood so often turns into cliches and leaves behind.
    Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2025
  • All the cliches about how hard he’s worked in the weight room and on the football field … his work in the classroom is even more impressive, if not equally impressive.
    Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 22 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • The two-dimensional characters communicate in bromides; Lena’s fellow privates, who suffer from the laziest defining characteristics (coarse Southern gal, proper preacher’s daughter, New Yorker), are the worst offenders.
    Vikram Murthi, IndieWire, 6 Dec. 2024
  • In place of triumph-of-the-human-spirit bromides, though, what the book delivers is its own kind of cinema, harsh and true.
    New York Times, New York Times, 8 July 2024
Noun
  • The Grand Ole Opry House holds 4,400 people, but can’t accommodate standing-room tours, a commonplace in genres like EDM and hip-hop.
    Matthew Leimkuehler, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025
  • Cora’s passion is helping people discover new ways to think about the commonplace, like our clothing.
    Cora Harrington, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • The members simply rounded up the usual suspects of platitudes.
    Vincent Turley, Hartford Courant, 2 Mar. 2025
  • And Romero and his curatorial team didn’t really engage with Abramovic beyond cursory platitudes.
    Kim Córdova, New York Times, 25 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • This truism sits at the very heart of Republicans' fight over a grand budget deal.
    Axios, Axios, 27 Feb. 2025
  • There are certain truisms that are hard to resist when talking about an album like Debí Debí Tirar Más Fotos, Bad Bunny’s sixth.
    Joan Escutia, Vogue, 10 Jan. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Banality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/banality. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on banality

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!