commonplace

CEFRB2

/ˈkɑmənˌpleɪs/

adjective · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

Examples

In my grandmother's lifetime, both telephones and computers have become commonplace.
Space travel will be commonplace some time in the future.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

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Extra meanings

In context

"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 do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the […]historians.

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

"This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man."
1824, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 7, in St. Ronan's Well
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.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC
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.
1911, Joseph Conrad, chapter 1, in Under Western Eyes
Commonplace sounds had turned into threats.
1970, Wally Ferris, Across 110th, page 193
In the old days, hopping onto the platform from a not-yet-stopped train was a commonplace stunt for daily commuters in a hurry.
2025 July 9, Frank Mueller, “Protecting the railway from new and existing dangers”, in RAIL, number 1039, page 62

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A calque of Latin locus commūnis, referring to a generally applicable literary passage, itself a calque of Ancient Greek κοινὸς τόπος (koinòs tópos).