commonplace

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: com=mon=place

CIDE DICTIONARY

commonplace, a. 

 Common; ordinary; trite; as, a commonplace person, or observation.  [1913 Webster]

commonplace, n. 

•  An idea or expression wanting originality or interest; a trite or customary remark; a platitude.  [1913 Webster]
•  A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.  [1913 Webster]

  "Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace."  [1913 Webster]

Commonplace book, a book in which records are made of things to be remembered.

commonplace, v. t. 

 To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.  Felton.  [1913 Webster]

commonplace, v. i. 

 To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.  Bacon.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

commonplace, adj. & n.
--adj. lacking originality; trite.
--n.
1 a an everyday saying; a platitude (uttered a commonplace about the weather). b an ordinary topic of conversation.
2 anything usual or trite.
3 a notable passage in a book etc. copied into a commonplace-book.

Idiom

commonplace-book a book into which notable extracts from other works are copied for personal use.

Derivative

commonplaceness n.

Etymology

transl. of L locus communis = Gk koinos topos general theme

THESAURUS

commonplace

Attic, Babbittish, Philistine, Spartan, abstraction, accustomed, ascetic, austere, average, back-number, bald, banal, banality, bare, baseborn, below the salt, bewhiskered, bourgeois, bromide, bromidic, campy, candid, chaste, chestnut, classic, classical, cliche, cliched, cockney, common, commonly known, commonplace expression, conventional, corn, corny, current, customary, cut-and-dried, direct, dry, dull, everyday, fade, familiar, familiar tune, flat, frank, fusty, garden, garden-variety, general, general idea, generalization, generalized proposition, glittering generality, habitual, hackney, hackneyed, hackneyed expression, hackneyed saying, high-camp, homely, homespun, household, humble, humdrum, inanity, insipid, kitschy, lean, lieu commun, locus communis, low, low-camp, lowborn, lowbred, lowly, matter-of-fact, mean, middle-class, moth-eaten, mundane, musty, natural, neat, no great shakes, nonclerical, nondescript, normal, normative, notorious, old hat, old joke, old saw, old song, old story, open, ordinary, overworked, pedestrian, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, plastic, platitude, platitudinous, plebeian, poetryless, pop, popular, predominating, prescriptive, prevailing, prevalent, prosaic, prosaicism, prosaism, prose, prosing, prosy, proverbial, public, pure, pure and simple, regular, regulation, reiteration, retold story, rubber stamp, rude, run-of-mine, run-of-the-mill, rustic, set, severe, shabby-genteel, shallowness, shibboleth, shopworn, simple, simple-speaking, sober, spare, square, stale, standard, stark, stereotype, stereotyped, stereotyped saying, stock, straightforward, suburban, sweeping statement, tag, talked-about, talked-of, third-estate, threadbare, timeworn, tired, tired cliche, tiresome, trite, trite saying, triteness, triticism, truism, truistic, twice-told tale, typical, unadorned, unaffected, unembellished, uneventful, unexceptional, ungenteel, unidealistic, unimaginative, unimpassioned, universal, universally admitted, universally recognized, unnoteworthy, unoriginal, unpoetic, unpoetical, unremarkable, unromantic, unspectacular, unvarnished, usual, vapid, vernacular, vulgar, warmed-over, well-kenned, well-known, well-recognized, well-understood, well-worn, widely known, wishy-washiness, wonted, workaday, workday, worn, worn thin, worn-out

ROGET THESAURUS

commonplace

Plainness

N plainness, simplicity, severity, plain terms, plain English, Saxon English, household words, plain, simple, unornamented, unadorned, unvarnished, homely, homespun, neat, severe, chaste, pure, Saxon, commonplace, matter-of- fact, natural, prosaic, dry, unvaried, monotonous, in plain terms, in plain words, in plain English, in plain common parlance, point-blank.

Habit

N habit, habitude, assuetude, assuefaction, wont, run, way, common state of things, general state of things, natural state of things, ordinary state of things, ordinary course of things, ordinary run of things, matter of course, beaten path, beaten track, beaten ground, prescription, custom, use, usage, immemorial usage, practice, prevalence, observance, conventionalism, conventionality, mode, fashion, vogue, etiquette, order of the day, cry, conformity, consuetude, dustoor, one's old way, old school, veteris vestigia flammae, laudator temporis acti, rule, standing order, precedent, routine, red-tape, red-tapism, pipe clay, rut, groove, cacoethes, bad habit, confirmed habit, inveterate habit, intrinsic habit, addiction, trick, training, seasoning, second nature, acclimatization, knack, habitual, accustomary, prescriptive, accustomed, of daily occurrence, of everyday occurrence, consuetudinary, wonted, usual, general, ordinary, common, frequent, everyday, household, garden variety, jog, trot, well-trodden, well-known, familiar, vernacular, trite, commonplace, conventional, regular, set, stock, established, stereotyped, prevailing, prevalent, current, received, acknowledged, recognized, accredited, of course, admitted, understood, conformable, according to use, according to custom, according to routine, in vogue, in fashion, in, with it, fashionable, wont, used to, given to, addicted to, attuned to, habituated, in the habit of, habitue, at home in, seasoned, imbued with, devoted to, wedded to, hackneyed, fixed, rooted, deep-rooted, ingrafted, permanent, inveterate, besetting, naturalized, ingrained, habitually, always, as usual, as is one's wont, as things go, as the world goes, as the sparks fly upwards, more suo, more solito, ex more, as a rule, for the most part, usually, generally, typically, most often, most frequently, cela s'entend, abeunt studia in mores, adeo in teneris consuescere multum est, consuetudo quasi altera natura, hoc erat in more majorum, How use doth breed a habit in a man!, magna est vis consuetudinis, morent fecerat usus.

Unimportance

N unimportance, insignificance, nothingness, immateriality, triviality, levity, frivolity, paltriness, poverty, smallness, vanity, matter of indifference, no object, nothing, nothing to signify, nothing worth speaking of, nothing particular, nothing to boast of, nothing to speak of, small matter, no great matter, trifling matter, mere joke, mere nothing, hardly anything, scarcely anything, nonentity, small beer, cipher, no great shakes, peu de chose, child's play, kinderspiel, toy, plaything, popgun, paper pellet, gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, trinket, bagatelle, Rickshaw, knickknack, whim-wham, trifle, trifles light as air, yankee notions, trumpery, trash, rubbish, stuff, fatras, frippery, leather or prunello, chaff, drug, froth bubble smoke, cobweb, weed, refuse, scum, joke, jest, snap of the fingers, fudge, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end, pack of nonsense, mere farce, straw, pin, fig, button, rush, bulrush, feather, halfpenny, farthing, brass farthing, doit, peppercorn, jot, rap, pinch of snuff, old son, cent, mill, picayune, pistareen, red cent, minutiae, details, minor details, small fry, dust in the balance, feather in the scale, drop in the ocean, flea-bite, molehill, nine days' wonder, ridiculus mus, flash in the pan, much ado about nothing, unimportant, of little account, of small account, of no account, of little importance, of no importance, immaterial, unessential, nonessential, indifferent, subordinate, mediocre, passable, fair, respectable, tolerable, commonplace, uneventful, mere, common, ordinary, inconsiderable, so-so, insignificant, inappreciable, trifling, trivial, slight, slender, light, flimsy, frothy, idle, puerile, airy, shallow, weak, powerless, frivolous, petty, niggling, piddling, peddling, fribble, inane, ridiculous, farcical, finical, finikin, fiddle-faddle, fingle-fangle, namby-pamby, wishy-washy, milk and water, poor, paltry, pitiful, contemptible, sorry, mean, meager, shabby, miserable, wretched, vile, scrubby, scrannel, weedy, niggardly, scurvy, putid, beggarly, worthless, twopennyhalfpenny, cheap, trashy, catchpenny, gimcrack, trumpery, one- horse, not worth the pains, not worth while, not worth mentioning, not worth speaking of, not worth a thought, not worth a curse, not worth a straw, beneath notice, unworthy of notice, beneath regard, unworthy of regard, beneath consideration, unworthy of consideration, de lana caprina, vain, slightly, rather, somewhat, pretty well, tolerably, for aught one cares, Int, no matter!, pish!, tush!, tut!, pshaw!, pugh!, pooh, pooh-pooh!, fudge!, bosh!, humbug!, fiddlestick, fiddlestick end!, fiddlededee!, never mind!, n'importe!, what signifies it, what boots it, what of it, what of that, what matter, what's the odds, a fig for', stuff!, nonsense!, stuff and nonsense, magno conatu magnas nugas, le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle, it matters not, it does not signify, it is of no consequence, it is of no importance, elephantus non capit murem, tempete dans un verre d'eau.

Mean

N mean, average, median, mode, balance, medium, mediocrity, generality, golden mean middle, compromise, middle course, middle state, neutrality, mediocrity, least common denominator, mean, intermediate, middle, average, neutral, mediocre, middle-class, commonplace, on an average, in the long run, taking one with another, taking all things together, taking it for all in all, communibus annis, in round numbers, medium tenuere beati.

Dullness

N dullness, heaviness, flatness, infestivity &c, stupidity want of originality, dearth of ideas, prose, matter of fact, heavy book, conte a dormir debout, platitude, dull, dull as ditch water, unentertaining, uninteresting, flat, dry as dust, unfunny, unlively, logy, unimaginative, insulse, dry as dust, prosy, prosing, prosaic, matter of fact, commonplace, pedestrian, pointless, weary stale flat and unprofitable, stupid, slow, flat, insipid, vapid, humdrum, monotonous, melancholic, stolid plodding, boring, tiresome, tedious, davus sum non Aedipus, deadly dull and boring, DDB.

Knowledge

N knowledge, cognizance, cognition, cognoscence, acquaintance, experience, ken, privity, insight, familiarity, comprehension, apprehension, recognition, appreciation, intuition, conscience, consciousness, perception, precognition, acroamatics, light, enlightenment, glimpse, inkling, glimmer, glimmering, dawn, scent, suspicion, impression, discovery, system of knowledge, body of knowledge, science, philosophy, pansophy, acroama, theory, aetiology, etiology, circle of the sciences, pandect, doctrine, body of doctrine, cyclopedia, encyclopedia, school, tree of knowledge, republic of letters, erudition, learning, lore, scholarship, reading, letters, literature, book madness, book learning, bookishness, bibliomania, bibliolatry, information, general information, store of knowledge, education, culture, menticulture, attainments, acquirements, acquisitions, accomplishments, proficiency, practical knowledge, liberal education, dilettantism, rudiments, deep knowledge, profound knowledge, solid knowledge, accurate knowledge, acroatic knowledge, acroamatic knowledge, vast knowledge, extensive knowledge, encyclopedic knowledge, encyclopedic learning, omniscience, pantology, march of intellect, progress of science, advance of science, advance of learning, schoolmaster abroad, scholar, knowing, cognitive, acroamatic, aware of, cognizant of, conscious of, acquainted with, made acquainted with, privy to, no stranger to, au fait with, au courant, in the secret, up to, alive to, behind the scenes, behind the curtain, let into, apprized of, informed of, undeceived, proficient with, versed with, read with, forward with, strong with, at home in, conversant with, familiar with, erudite, instructed, leaned, lettered, educated, well conned, well informed, well read, well grounded, well educated, enlightened, shrewd, savant, blue, bookish, scholastic, solid, profound, deep-read, book- learned, accomplished, omniscient, self-taught, known, ascertained, well-known, recognized, received, notorious, noted, proverbial, familiar, familiar as household words, familiar to every schoolboy, hackneyed, trite, trivial, commonplace, cognoscible, cognizable, to one's knowledge, to the best of one's knowledge, one's eyes being opened, ompredre tout c'est tout pardonner, to know all is to pardon all, empta dolore docet experientia, gnothi seauton, half our knowledge we must snatch not take, Jahre lehren mehr als Bucher, years teach more than books, knowledge comes but wisdom lingers, knowledge is power, les affaires font les hommes, nec scire fas est omnia, the amassed thought and experience of innumerable, was ich nicht weiss macht mich nicht heiss.