commonplace Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a trite or obvious remark
    banality; platitude; cliche; bromide.
  2. adjective satellite completely ordinary and unremarkable
    • air travel has now become commonplace
    • commonplace everyday activities
  3. adjective satellite not challenging; dull and lacking excitement
    humdrum; prosaic; unglamourous; unglamorous.
    • an unglamorous job greasing engines
  4. adjective satellite repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
    well-worn; hackneyed; tired; old-hat; timeworn; trite; banal; threadbare; shopworn; stock.
    • bromidic sermons
    • his remarks were trite and commonplace
    • hackneyed phrases
    • a stock answer
    • repeating threadbare jokes
    • parroting some timeworn axiom
    • the trite metaphor `hard as nails'

WordNet

Com"mon*place` adjective
Definitions
  1. Common; ordinary; trite; as, a commonplace person, or observation.
Com"mon*place` noun
Definitions
  1. An idea or expression wanting originality or interest; a trite or customary remark; a platitude.
  2. A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
    Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace. Swift.
Com"mon*place` transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads. Felton.
Com"mon*place` intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes. Obs. Bacon.

Webster 1913