commonplace

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Ordinary

   Ordinary; not having any remarkable characteristics.

   • "This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man."
   • In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts,[…], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.
   • I could get hold of nothing but of some commonplace phrases, those futile phrases that give the measure of our impotence before each other's trials.
2. 2

   A platitude or cliché.

   • Finally he began to mutter some commonplaces which meant nothing particularly.
   • And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
3. 3

   Something that is ordinary

   Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring.

   • It is odd how easily the common-places of morality or of sentiment glide off in conversation. Well, they are "exceedingly helpful," and so Lord Avonleigh found them.
   • And, placed discreetly among these commonplaces, a few pieces of genuine quality, bizarrely distinguished by craftsmanship from the vulgar products of the machine.
4. ›+ 5 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      A memorandum

      A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.

      • Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of common-place.
   2. 5

      A commonplace book.

   3. 6

      To make a commonplace book.

   4. 7

      To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.

      • I do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the […]historians.
   5. 8

      To utter commonplaces

      To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.

      • And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
      • c. January 1620, Francis Bacon, letter to the King For the good that comes of particular and select committees and commissions, I need not commonplace.

The neighborhood

• neighborcommonplace book