generic

[ juh-ner-ik ]

adjective

1. of, applicable to, or referring to all the members of a genus, class, group, or kind; not specific; general.

   Synonyms: universal, common

   Antonyms: specific

2. of, relating to, or noting a genus especially in biology.
3. (of a word) applicable or referring to both men and women:

   a generic pronoun.

4. not protected by trademark registration:

   “Cola” and “shuttle” are generic terms.

   Synonyms: unbranded

5. having no distinguishing characteristics; commonplace:

   There are a lot of generic interviews, and the lack of unique perspective you get from interviewers is somewhat shocking.

noun

1. something that is generic.
2. any product, as a type of food, drug, or cosmetic commonly marketed under a brand name, that is sold in a package without a brand.
3. a wine made from two or more varieties of grapes, with no one grape constituting more than half the product ( varietal ).

generic

/ dʒɪˈnɛrɪk /

adjective

1. applicable or referring to a whole class or group; general
2. biology of, relating to, or belonging to a genus

   the generic name

3. denoting the nonproprietary name of a drug, food product, etc

noun

1. a drug, food product, etc that does not have a trademark

Derived Forms

• geˈnerically, adverb

Other Words From

• ge·ner·i·cal·ly adverb
• ge·ner·i·cal·ness noun
• non·ge·ner·ic adjective
• non·ge·ner·i·cal adjective
• non·ge·ner·i·cal·ly adverb
• pseu·do·ge·ner·ic adjective
• pseu·do·ge·ner·i·cal adjective
• pseu·do·ge·ner·i·cal·ly adverb
• su·per·ge·ner·ic adjective
• su·per·ge·ner·i·cal·ly adverb
• un·ge·ner·ic adjective
• un·ge·ner·i·cal adjective
• un·ge·ner·i·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of generic¹

First recorded in 1670–80; from Latin gener- ( gender ¹ ) + -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of generic¹

C17: from French; see genus

Example Sentences

A content marketing guide is generic, your business needs are very much concrete.

From Search Engine Watch

IKEA tackles the generic-ness problem by making a vast range of different products, and periodically updating long-running bestsellers.

From Fortune

For example, you can use generic keywords to describe your business, your product, and your services.

From Search Engine Watch

Instead, its goal is to shore up the US supply of generic drugs.

From Quartz

Metformin is a widely-used generic drug for mitigating liver sugar production in Type 2 diabetes patients.

From Singularity Hub 

And with sildenafil citrate going generic in three years, Pfizer will soon lose sole ownership over the Viagra formula.

From The Daily Beast

But here we are at a generic hotel suite in downtown Toronto.

From The Daily Beast

But everything in Abbudin feels willfully generic, as if even the tiniest hint of specificity might give offense.

From The Daily Beast

We could have made the production a bit more 2010s by steering it in a more generic direction.

From The Daily Beast

Ketorolac, a generic, is considered a relatively nontoxic drug.

From The Daily Beast

Mangold is here, then, a generic term, standing for other plants equally with the beet.

From Project Gutenberg

Illiger (1811:83) proposed Tamias as the generic name of the chipmunk of eastern North America.

From Project Gutenberg

We have also some portraits of Miss Vaughan, who is aggressive and good to look at; but this is not the generic distinction.

From Project Gutenberg

We shall first distinguish them by the two generic names of Sapajous and Sagoins.

From Project Gutenberg

The word guma, like aubo, appears to be a generic term for water, or potable liquids.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• universal