1
as in normal
being of the type that is encountered in the normal course of events
the once-powerful hurricane eventually abated into just a garden-variety tropical storm
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in usual
often observed or encountered
the bakery's extravagant creations are not your garden-variety wedding cakes
Synonyms & Similar Words
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 garden-variety
Burroughs is more the traditional garden-variety American hack judge.
—
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025
Here are the top stories from the Miami Herald about Alligator Alcatraz:
Shortly after President Donald Trump left the brand new detention facility to hold immigrants in the middle of the Everglades, a garden-variety South Florida summer rainstorm started.
—Miami Herald, 4 July 2025
Sending troops into a major American city on the flimsiest of pretexts, along with the usual clutch of garden-variety Trumpian offenses, certainly helped.
—George Kalogerakis, Air Mail, 21 June 2025
But, outside of garden-variety speculation, nobody knows anything.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
Brian Colbert ran on a parochial platform focused on garden-variety local issues.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2025
In a free insurance market, a garden-variety health plan would be a price taker in the market for prescription drugs.
—John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
Brief eye contact and about a dozen words are all Abel and the enigmatic Anima (Jenna Ortega) need to establish a connection closer than garden-variety groupie-ism.
—Charles Bramesco, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
For Level 2 systems, minor property damage incidents—including door dings, curb kisses and garden-variety fender benders—will now generally be excluded from reporting requirements.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 2 May 2025
Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 25 July 2025
Here are the top stories from the Miami Herald about Alligator Alcatraz:
Shortly after President Donald Trump left the brand new detention facility to hold immigrants in the middle of the Everglades, a garden-variety South Florida summer rainstorm started.
—Miami Herald, 4 July 2025
Sending troops into a major American city on the flimsiest of pretexts, along with the usual clutch of garden-variety Trumpian offenses, certainly helped.
—George Kalogerakis, Air Mail, 21 June 2025
But, outside of garden-variety speculation, nobody knows anything.
—Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025
Brian Colbert ran on a parochial platform focused on garden-variety local issues.
—Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 5 June 2025
In a free insurance market, a garden-variety health plan would be a price taker in the market for prescription drugs.
—John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 22 May 2025
Brief eye contact and about a dozen words are all Abel and the enigmatic Anima (Jenna Ortega) need to establish a connection closer than garden-variety groupie-ism.
—Charles Bramesco, IndieWire, 15 May 2025
For Level 2 systems, minor property damage incidents—including door dings, curb kisses and garden-variety fender benders—will now generally be excluded from reporting requirements.
—Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 2 May 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for garden-variety
Adjective
-
The results are limited to changes in normal brain aging, not Alzheimer's disease.—
Jon Hamilton,
NPR,
28 July 2025
-
As volatility becomes the new normal, many leaders feel compelled to act faster, control more or push harder.—
Gamini Hewawasam,
Forbes.com,
28 July 2025
Adjective
-
Roeck’s Renaissance begins in the twelfth century—the high Middle Ages, in our usual accounting—and carries the story through the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation, and the Baroque.—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
-
While Davidson stuck to his usual casual attire, his girlfriend went for a more formal look for the event.—
Karla Rodriguez,
Footwear News,
28 July 2025
Adjective
-
Welcome back to Elmore, where the laws of reality are a joke, and family life is anything but ordinary.—
DeVonne Goode,
Parents,
31 July 2025
-
Netflix's The Sandman has love stories that are tangled, tragic and anything but ordinary — a stark contrast to the cast's real-life romances.—
Samantha Stutsman,
People.com,
31 July 2025
Adjective
-
Magnetic reconnection is ubiquitous throughout the Universe, and the same physical processes produce solar flares and coronal mass ejections from the Sun.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
24 July 2025
-
After a long career of wear-and-tear where Hogan was ubiquitous as the face of WWE and pro wrestling, surgeries became the norm for the former six-time WWE champion.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Adjective
-
On a recent Friday morning, a group of half a dozen neighbors and business owners in Fountain Square gathered near Leonard Street, looking prepared for a typical neighborhood cleanup.—
Jordan Smith,
IndyStar,
26 July 2025
-
Beyond the fitness infrastructure, the five-stateroom Sea Rover has typical superyacht amenities of open social areas, including a salon, dining area, full-beam primary suite, beach club, and multiple outdoor terraces.—
Michael Verdon,
Robb Report,
25 July 2025
Adjective
-
While once plentiful, lake sturgeon are now far less common.—
Diana Leyva,
The Tennessean,
31 July 2025
-
The clinic tests and treats people with TB, which is very common in other parts of the world.—
Nicole Villalpando,
Austin American Statesman,
31 July 2025
Adjective
-
For example, a June 2024 publication in the RAND Health Quarterly described how drug prices in the U.S. were on average nearly three times higher than those in 33 other high-income countries.—
Bruce Y. Lee,
Forbes.com,
3 Aug. 2025
-
On average last year, the economy added 168,000 jobs a month.—
Josh Boak,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Once the Waymo arrives, riders will be able to unlock the vehicle, open the trunk and start the trip, all from their familiar Uber app.—
Beck Andrew Salgado,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
-
And which familiar voices will play its ensemble of cops, crooks, and citizens?—
EW.com,
EW.com,
30 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Garden-variety.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/garden-variety. Accessed 7 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share