Word of the Week 10/28/18: Banal

From Macmillan Dictionary: 

Something that is banal is boring because it contains nothing new, original, or unusual

From Oxford Dictionary: 

So lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring

From Cambridge Dictionary: 

Too often used in the past and therefore not interesting, boring, ordinary, and not original

From Vocabulary.com: 

Repeated too often; over-familiar through overuse

From Collins Dictionary: 

So ordinary that it is not at all effective or interesting, dull or stale as because of overuse; trite; hackneyed; commonplace, lacking force or originality; trite; commonplace

From The Free Dictionary: 

Drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite

From Wiktionary: 

Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh

From Merriam-Webster:  

Lacking originality, freshness, or novelty : trite 

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 dictionaries is the now-unused \BAN-ul\ (rhymes with “flannel); it is attested to in 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.

From Dictionary.com: 

Lacking force or originality; trite; commonplace 

1840, from French banal , "belonging to a manor, common, hackneyed, commonplace," from Old French banel "communal" (13c.), from ban "decree; legal control; announcement; authorization; payment for use of a communal oven, mill, etc.". The modern sense evolved from the word's use in designating things like ovens or mills that belonged to feudal serfs, or else compulsory military service; in either case it was generalized in French through "open to everyone" to "commonplace, ordinary," to "trite, petty."