ordinary

[ awr-dn-er-ee ]

adjective

1. of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional:

   One novel is brilliant, the other is decidedly ordinary; an ordinary person.

   Antonyms: exceptional, unusual, extraordinary

2. plain or undistinguished:

   ordinary clothes.

3. somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre.
4. customary; usual; normal:

   We plan to do the ordinary things this weekend.

   Synonyms: accustomed, regular

5. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. common, vulgar, or disreputable.
6. (of jurisdiction) immediate, as contrasted with something that is delegated.
7. (of officials) belonging to the regular staff or the fully recognized class.

noun

, plural or·di·nar·ies.

1. the commonplace or average condition, degree, etc.:

   ability far above the ordinary.

2. something regular, customary, or usual.
3. Ecclesiastical.
   1. an order or form for divine service, especially that for saying Mass.
   2. the service of the Mass exclusive of the canon.
4. History/Historical. a member of the clergy appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death.
5. English Ecclesiastical Law. a bishop, archbishop, or other ecclesiastic or his deputy, in his capacity as an ex officio ecclesiastical authority.
6. (in some U.S. states) a judge of a court of probate.
7. British. (in a restaurant or inn) a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service.
8. a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare.
9. penny-farthing ( def ).
10. Heraldry.
    1. any of the simplest and commonest charges, usually having straight or broadly curved edges.
    2. honorable ordinary.

ordinary

/ ˈɔːdənrɪ /

adjective

1. of common or established type or occurrence
2. familiar, everyday, or unexceptional
3. uninteresting or commonplace
4. having regular or ex officio jurisdiction

   an ordinary judge

5. maths (of a differential equation) containing two variables only and derivatives of one of the variables with respect to the other

noun

1. a common or average situation, amount, or degree (esp in the phrase out of the ordinary )
2. a normal or commonplace person or thing
3. civil law a judge who exercises jurisdiction in his own right
4. usually capital an ecclesiastic, esp a bishop, holding an office to which certain jurisdictional powers are attached
5. RC Church
   1. the parts of the Mass that do not vary from day to day Compare proper
   2. a prescribed form of divine service, esp the Mass
6. the US name for penny-farthing
7. heraldry any of several conventional figures, such as the bend, the fesse, and the cross, commonly charged upon shields
8. history a clergyman who visited condemned prisoners before their death
9. obsolete.
   1. a meal provided regularly at a fixed price
   2. the inn providing such meals
10. in ordinary
    (used esp in titles) in regular service or attendance

    physician in ordinary to the sovereign

Other Words From

• or·di·nar·i·ness noun
• qua·si-or·di·nar·y adjective
• su·per·or·di·nar·y adjective
• un·or·di·nar·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinary¹

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ordinarie (noun and adjective), from Latin ordinārius “regular, of the usual order,” equivalent to ordin- (stem of ordō “row, regular arrangement”) + -ārius adjective suffix; order, -ary

Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinary¹

C16: (adj) and C13: (some n senses): ultimately from Latin ordinārius orderly, from ordō order

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. in ordinary, in regular service:

   a physician in ordinary to the king.

2. out of the ordinary,
   1. exceptional; unusual:

      Having triplets is certainly out of the ordinary.

   2. exceptionally good; unusually good:

      The food at this restaurant is truly out of the ordinary.

More idioms and phrases containing ordinary

see out of the ordinary .

Synonym Study

See common.

Example Sentences

The company also offers a Web dashboard of data for ordinary investors.

From Washington Post

Internet shutdowns “hurt ordinary people by depriving us of our fundamental rights to access information, to connect with family members, and they also put our physical safety at risk,” Micek says.

From Fortune

The two of us primarily text, so a call was out of the ordinary.

From MIT Technology Review

These two appear to be ordinary, run-of-the-mill tectonic quakes.

From Quanta Magazine

Instead, wealth is transferred from ordinary investors to bubble sellers.

From Fortune

There was nothing out of the ordinary, but for the fact that Jim was gay.

From The Daily Beast

The Rizzoli in New York City was no ordinary bookstore in its seventies heyday.

From The Daily Beast

They refused to believe that ordinary humans could beat them at their own game.

From The Daily Beast

At the White House on Monday, Obama praised Hagel as “no ordinary secretary of defense.”

From The Daily Beast

“My experience was very ordinary, but very privileged,” she said.

From The Daily Beast

Bacteria, when present in great numbers, give a uniform cloud which cannot be removed by ordinary filtration.

From Project Gutenberg

All the ordinary subjects in schools have been taught over and over again millions and millions of times.

From Project Gutenberg

In one sense, then, the new issue has adequate expansibility for ordinary needs.

From Project Gutenberg

When ordinary methods do not suffice, it can usually be cleared by shaking up with a little magnesium carbonate and filtering.

From Project Gutenberg

It behaves the same as glucose with all the ordinary tests, and can be distinguished only by polarization.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• common
• conventional
• dull
• generic
• humble
• mediocre
• normal
• plain
• simple
• unremarkable
• workaday

More About Ordinary

What does ordinary mean?

Ordinary means usual, normal, or of no special quality.

Sometimes, the word is used in a negative way to mean somewhat inferior, below average, or just plain—in much the same way as the word mediocre.

Describing something as ordinary usually means that it’s very basic or commonplace—there’s nothing special or unusual about it. An ordinary day is one in which nothing unexpected happens.

You could describe a person as ordinary to mean that they’re normal, as in People treat me like a celebrity, but I’m just an ordinary guy. But using ordinary to describe a person can also be an insult, as in I don’t know what you see in him—he’s so ordinary.  

Ordinary can also be used as a noun (especially in the ordinary) referring to the common or usual state or condition. This is how the word is used in the phrase out of the ordinary, which means unusual, uncommon, or exceptional.

Example: He was so ordinary it was almost suspicious—no one’s that normal!

Where does ordinary come from?

The first records of the word ordinary come from the 1200s. It comes from the Latin ordinārius, meaning “regular” or “of the usual order.”

Ordinary things are regular—they exist in the usual order of things. The adverb form ordinarily means “usually” or “in an ordinary manner.”

Describing something as extraordinary doesn’t mean it’s “extra ordinary” or “extra normal” but instead means it’s “beyond ordinary”—it’s unusual, exceptional, or out of the ordinary.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms of ordinary?

• ordinarily (adverb)
• ordinariness (noun)

What are some synonyms for ordinary?

• normal
• regular
• common
• average
• customary
• familiar
• everyday
• unexceptional
• plain
• undistinguished
• generic
• mediocre

What are some words that share a root or word element with ordinary? 

• out of the ordinary
• extraordinary
• order

What are some words that often get used in discussing ordinary?

• person
• day
• circumstances
• way

How is ordinary used in real life?

Ordinary is commonly used to mean “normal” or “regular,” but it can also be used in a negative way to mean “inferior” or “not at all special.”

In ordinary circumstances, ammonium nitrate is fertilizer. But when placed under stress of heat and pressure, it acts like a bomb. https://t.co/JHXlGvNBDZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 6, 2020

Even though Justin Long is fun to watch, and the third act is good, The Wave ends up being a little too ordinary https://t.co/zw24LOo2NO pic.twitter.com/wBMCi3Tzxc

— io9 (@io9) September 26, 2019

I only remember my dad watching us once. My mom went to an out of town funeral. I was seven and he made Campbell’s chicken noodle soup and oranges. It was 57 years ago and is still such a great memory. So fun and so out of the ordinary (I didn’t know that he could cook).

— Debbie Galant (@debgal55) September 15, 2020

 

 

Try using ordinary!

Which of the following words would NOT be used to describe something that’s considered ordinary?

A. fantastic
B. unremarkable
C. dull
D. typical