French word

banal

Pronunciation

IPA/banal/

Meaning

  • adjectivecommonplace

Example

C'est banal.

It's commonplace.

Illustration for banal (commonplace)

More examples

Sa remarque était banale et personne n'y a fait attention.

His remark was commonplace, and no one paid attention to it.

Core concept

An everyday thing so familiar that it feels unremarkable rather than distinctive.

Common phrases

  • idée banale

    commonplace idea

  • réponse banale

    commonplace reply

  • histoire banale

    commonplace story

Similar words

ordinaire: Common and unremarkable, with nothing especially distinctive.
commun: Shared by many people and not rare.
courant: Frequently seen or occurring in everyday life.
habituel: Usual and unchanged from what is normally expected.

Definition in French

Qui manque d'originalité et se rencontre fréquemment dans la vie quotidienne.

Word origin

Banal developed in Old French from ban, a lord's jurisdiction or public proclamation, and came to describe what was common to everyone before gaining its modern sense of ordinary.

Usage tips

  • Banal often carries a critical tone, while ordinaire or commun can sound more neutral in French.

Other meanings

  • ordinaryadjective
  • triteadjective

Opposites

Related words

  • banalitébanalitynoun
  • banaliserbanalizeverb
  • banalementbanallyadverb

Word lists with this word