Explanation
When you do something prosaically, you do it in an ordinary, straightforward way. Some could even call it boring. While your poet friend announces that the sky is weeping, you might more prosaically say it’s just raining. When you state something without any added imaginative details or flowery language, you speak prosaically. The adverb implies a lack of originality as well. Your poet friend might add descriptive details to all weather reports, but to say it prosaically is to just state the facts. The Latin word prosa, or "prose," is the origin of prosaically and its related adjective, prosaic.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Its life ended in spectacular style in a process called a supernova, prosaically called SN 1987A, by astronomers.
From BBC • Feb. 23, 2024
The guitarist, in a gray hoodie and his ever-present beanie, spoke prosaically and held his cards close to the vest.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2023
She pointed out the two versions of the Ten Commandments, a beautifully calligraphic rendering of the Song of Deborah and, more prosaically, places where small tears had been stitched together with thread or sinew.
From New York Times • Feb. 15, 2023
Speaking more prosaically, our initiation to April seemed a little cool, a little windy and a little wet.
From Washington Post • Apr. 1, 2022
Byerley said, prosaically, “But the Canal,—it was on schedule six months ago. What happened?”
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
