BANAL
What does "BANAL" mean?
So ordinary or overused as to be dull and lacking originality.
Meanings
- Lacking freshness or originality; tediously commonplace. The speech was a string of banal slogans no one believed.
Did you know?
- 'Banal' began as a feudal legal term: a 'four banal' was the lord's communal oven that everyone in the village was obliged to use - shared by all, and from there the word slid to mean 'ordinary,' then 'dull.'
Word origin
From French 'banal', originally meaning 'belonging to compulsory feudal service' (from 'ban', a lord's jurisdiction); shared communal use led to the sense 'common', then 'commonplace' and 'trite'.
Remember it
BANAL sounds like 'ba-NAL' - a flat, nasal drone; the word even sounds boring, which is exactly what it means.
A little poem
He called the sunset banal, too often seen,
and missed it sinking, gold across the wall-
the world stays new; the bored eye does not.
tercet
Wordplay
- I'd describe his motivational poster as banal, but that critique is itself so banal it cancels out.
What it teaches
Calling a thing banal is easy; the harder eye finds what is still strange in the ordinary.
Quick facts
What does BANAL mean?
So ordinary or overused as to be dull and lacking originality.
Is BANAL a valid word?
Yes — BANAL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is BANAL?
BANAL has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does BANAL come from?
From French 'banal', originally meaning 'belonging to compulsory feudal service' (from 'ban', a lord's jurisdiction); shared communal use led to the sense 'common', then 'commonplace' and 'trite'.
What can BANAL teach us?
Calling a thing banal is easy; the harder eye finds what is still strange in the ordinary.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.