The trip offers an escape from the banalities of daily life. We exchanged banalities about the weather. The writing never rose above banality.
Recent Examples on the WebFor us, Styles is a fern-tattooed electric current, an escape from the banality of everyday, middle-ish-aged life. Michelle Ruiz, Vogue, 1 Sep. 2022 There’s a moment in Episode 4 of the new season of Industry when Yasmin—a rich-girl London banker played by the magnetic Marisa Abela—recounts the bizarre banality of pandemic lockdown life. Todd Plummer, Harper's BAZAAR, 9 Aug. 2022 McLaren averts banality by sticking to supercar essentials: carbon fiber monocoques, scissor doors and absolutely no SUVs. Basem Wasef, Robb Report, 1 Aug. 2022 Saunders’ Abnesti was a suburban dad and mid-level cog, evil’s banality personified. Bonnie Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2022 Eerie slide guitar music and a haunting theme song reminiscent of a David Lynch movie add to the unreal banality of the evil revealed. Globe Correspondent, BostonGlobe.com, 9 June 2022 It’s this banality — the purposeful obliviousness of the assumed safety of minding your damn business — that Payton Gendron allegedly hoped and prepared for. Damon Young, Washington Post, 26 May 2022 Somehow the hotel room, in the mystique of its banality, maintains the invitation. James Parker, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2022 That there’s truth in these observations doesn’t rescue the songs from banality, despite the appealing sophistication of the musical structures. Mark Richardson, WSJ, 2 May 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French banalité, from banal "available for general use, commonplace, banal" + -ité-ity
Note: The modern French word is probably an eighteenth-century coinage, and not continuous with Middle French bannalité "a feudal lord's right to extract usage fees, area under such a jurisdiction."