There are several pronunciations of banal, but the three most common are \BAY-nul\, \buh-NAHL\, and \buh-NAL\ (which rhymes with canal). The earliest pronunciation given in our dictionaries is the now-unused \BAN-ul\ (rhymes with “flannel); it is attested to in our dictionaries back to the 1800s, but has dropped out of use. \BAY-nul\ is the next oldest pronunciation. The more recent \buh-NAL\ and \buh-NAHL\ came about through French influence, since banal was borrowed into English from French, and those two pronunciations are closer to the French pronunciation of banal. All three pronunciations are acceptable in educated speech; \buh-NAL\ is currently the most common, followed by \BAY-nul\ and then \buh-NAHL. There is no reason to condemn any of them as incorrect.
insipid implies a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest.
an insipid romance with platitudes on every page
vapid suggests a lack of liveliness, force, or spirit.
an exciting story given a vapid treatment
flat applies to things that have lost their sparkle or zest.
although well-regarded in its day, the novel now seems flat
jejune suggests a lack of rewarding or satisfying substance.
a jejune and gassy speech
banal stresses the complete absence of freshness, novelty, or immediacy.
a banal tale of unrequited love
inane implies a lack of any significant or convincing quality.
an inane interpretation of the play
Examples of banal in a Sentence
The more banal, the more commonplace, the more predictable, the triter, the staler, the dumber, the better.—Don DeLillo, Mao II, 1991The instructor's script is banal, relying heavily on images of waves on a beach or clouds in the sky.—Maxine Kumin, "Wintering Over,"1979,
in In Deep, 1987… it seemed to me that computers have been used in ways that are salutary, in ways that are dangerous, banal and cruel, and in ways that seem harmless if a little silly.—Tracy Kidder, The Soul of a New Machine, 1981
He made some banal remarks about the weather.
The writing was banal but the story was good.
Recent Examples on the WebNot for the first time in his filmmaking career, Northern Irish documentarian Mark Cousins begins his latest work by presenting the audience with a banal image, and persuasively talking us into a reconsideration.—Guy Lodge, Variety, 6 July 2024 Kai Ye How Microsoft Excel Tries to Rebrand Work as Excitement
This banal type of office software has a long history of trying to pass itself off as whimsical.—Kate Brandt, WIRED, 3 July 2024 Even with its brief running time, Tiny Lights demands a certain degree of patience with its intense focus on banal childhood preoccupations.—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 July 2024 Such characterizations are simply more creative than Pixar’s banal, pre-AI obviousness.—Armond White, National Review, 14 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for banal
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'banal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from French, "pertaining to a feudal lord's right to extract usage fees for mills, ovens, etc., within his jurisdiction, available for general use, ordinary, commonplace, trite," going back to Old French bannel "subject to a feudal lord's jurisdiction, of seigneurial authority," borrowed from Medieval Latin bannālis, banālis "ordered by a ban, invested with public authority," from bannus, bannum "order given by a public authority, authority, jurisdiction" (borrowed from Old Low Franconian *banna- "call to arms by a lord") + Latin -ālis-al entry 1 — more at ban entry 2
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