Skip to main content
commonplaceness

commonplaceness

5.9
A quality of being ordinary and not interesting because it appears very often
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒmənˌpleɪs.nəs/
translation icon : común
  • This commonplaceness may seem to place Shinto at the very opposite pole from the religious or the sacred.

Examples

  • The commonplaceness of everyday conversations often leads to overlooked insights.

  • She was surprised by the commonplaceness of the art that everyone praised.

  • The commonplaceness of the weather this week made it hard to plan any outdoor activities.

Synonyms

ordinariness
vscommonplaceness
3 4.1

A state of being usual and not special

puts emphasis on lack of originality and repeated exposure
conventionality
vscommonplaceness
1 7.4

Lacking new ideas and using the usual or expected forms

is a broader not special quality not limited to social conformity
everydayness
vscommonplaceness
1 6.8

The ordinary daily life people live

focuses more on lack of originality than merely how often it happens
commonness
vscommonplaceness
1 2.3

How often something is found or shared by many people

highlights lack of originality as a reason for frequent appearance
averageness
vscommonplaceness
1 4.7

A state of being ordinary and not special

relates to frequent occurrence and lack of originality rather than statistical middle
prosaicness
vscommonplaceness
9.1

The quality of being ordinary and not exciting

is the exact same quality without any difference in use
usualness
vscommonplaceness
2.9

The state of being ordinary and like a normal routine

emphasizes absence of originality rather than mere customary practice
staleness
vscommonplaceness
5.9

A lack of new ideas that makes something seem dull and familiar

focuses more broadly on not being special not only from overuse
mundaneness
vscommonplaceness
6.7

A state of being ordinary and not exciting

stresses absence of originality rather than only low interest
routineness
vscommonplaceness
4.7

Days or tasks happen the same way again and again

highlights frequent occurrence as the cause rather than deliberate lack of novelty

Antonyms

25 4.1

Being the only one of its kind

How Ordinary

banality
10 7.2
mundanity
1 7.2
ordinariness
3 4.1
commonplaceness
5.9
novelty
47 4.7
originality
30 4.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

commonplaceness = commonplace (transparent) = common + place + ness

The noun is formed by adding the productive suffix '-ness' to 'commonplace', so the meaning 'the quality of being ordinary' is directly derived.

Etymology

The word commonplaceness comes from commonplace plus the ending -ness; common means 'shared' or 'ordinary' and place means 'place', so commonplace once named something everyone knew or kept in a shared book, and -ness makes it the 'state of being' that way. That's why commonplaceness means the 'quality of being ordinary' or unremarkable.