bromide

CEFRC1

/ˈbɹəʊ.maɪd/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
noun
A dull statement that sounds wise but is not original.
02
noun
Extra detail
The anionic form of a bromine atom.

Examples

In culinary, can you substitute sodium bromide for sodium chloride?
My adviser at college was a bromide who had not had an original thought in years.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 1
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 5

Also pronounced

/ˈbɹoʊ.maɪd/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

A binary compound of bromine and some other element or radical.
Any salt of hydrobromic acid.
A dull person with conventional thoughts.

More examples

In context

We hoped the speech would include reassurances, but instead it was merely one bromide after another.
The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary.
No organicist metaphor, no irrelevant bromide that "we are all part of one another," must be permitted to obscure this basic fact.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The chemist added a silver blank compound to the solution for the photographic experiment.

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Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary.
1906, Frank Gelett Burgess, Are You A Bromide?
“How fortunate Buddha, Mahomed, and Shakespeare were that their kind relations and doctors did not cure them of their ecstasy and their inspiration,” said Kovrin. “If Mahomed had taken bromide for his nerves, had worked only two hours out of the twenty-four, and had drunk milk, that remarkable man would have left no more trace after him than his dog. […]”
1894, Anton Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnett, The Black Monk, published 1917
No organicist metaphor, no irrelevant bromide that "we are all part of one another," must be permitted to obscure this basic fact.
1974, Murray Newton Rothbard, “What the State Is Not”, in Anatomy of the State
Gascoigne was annoyed by this. ‘Well, I wish you luck, Mr. Lauderback, in bringing Mr. Carver to justice,’ he said. ‘Spare the bromide,’ Lauderback snapped. ‘Talk to me plain.’
2013, Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries, London: Granta Books, published 2014, →ISBN, page 569
Certainly not Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who is clearly the Rupert Murdoch of his generation. He’s always justifying his cowardly choices with vacuous bromides about “free speech,” but he’s obviously just in it for the money — no matter how much his platform is used to destroy our democracy.
2020 June 2, Thomas L. Friedman, “America, We Break It, It’s Gone”, in New York Times

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Origin

noun

From brom- + -ide. First used in the sense “dull person” by American artist, art critic, poet, author and humorist Gelett Burgess. Figurative sense ("platitude") by extending the medicating sense through the metaphor of pacifying or placating.

Deep Dive

noun

More examples

Related

Quick test

The chemist added a silver blank— compound to the solution for the photographic experiment.

Nearby

Origin

noun

The chemist added a silver blank compound to the solution for the photographic experiment.