banality

[ buh-nal-i-tee, bey- ]

noun

, plural ba·nal·i·ties.

1. the condition or quality of being banal, or devoid of freshness or originality:

   the banality of everyday life.

2. an instance of this:

   We sat around the dinner table exchanging banalities.

Word History and Origins

Origin of banality¹

First recorded in 1815–25; from French banalité, equivalent to banal ( def ) + -ity ( def )

Example Sentences

And yet, behind the lurid carnival barkery of Hulk Hogan and Rudy Giuliani and BeDazzled Alina Habba and the ghoulish malevolence of Stephen Miller and Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk, perhaps the enduring message here was not the blatant “banality of evil,” or even that “the cruelty is the point,” but the ease with which the enshittification of democracy itself is the real endgame of the Trump campaign.

From Slate

Like the social media that’s potentially inspired it, male cosmetic procedures are accessible, acceptable, and possibly moving toward banality.

From Slate

In Jeremy Saulnier’s “Rebel Ridge,” a “Rambo”-inspired riff on racial profiling and the insidious banality of evil baked into American policing, the filmmaker demonstrates his mastery of the taut action thriller.

From Los Angeles Times

He stretched language and banality to operatic extremes, exalting discarded bits of life as if they were cosmic, in stylized declamation that is every bit as musical as Mozart.

From New York Times

It’s a dating app standard, among the Billboard Hot 100 of bio banality.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• platitude