What does banal mean?
Word: Banal
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Banal means so ordinary and so often heard that it is dull and not interesting.
Synonyms: dull, ordinary, boring, stale
Antonyms: fresh, striking
How do you spell banal?
Syllables: ba - nal
Tricky part: There is only one n, though students often double it and write bannal.
Watch out for: bannal, baanal
Memory tip: A banal remark is plain, with nothing extra, and banal has nothing extra either: a single n.
Banal in a sentence
Example 1: The speech was full of banal lines like 'work hard and you will succeed'.
Example 2: Tara found the film's ending banal, because she had guessed it in the first ten minutes.
Example 3: Our teacher asked us to avoid banal openings such as 'Once upon a time' in our stories.
Fun Fact
In old France, banal described things every villager had to use, such as the lord's mill or oven. Because they were common to everyone, the word came to mean ordinary.
Practise the CREST Way
Jumble Tumble
Choose the correct sequence of the jumbled letters to form a meaningful word:
12345 albna
a) 34152
b) 31452
c) 13452
d) 25413
Show answer
b) 31452. The b in place 3 comes first, and 1, 4, 5 and 2 complete banal.
Word Puzzle
Match the words with the correct options:
1. banal 2. feeble 3. hollow a. solid b. original c. strong
a) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
b) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
c) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
d) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
Show answer
d) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a. Match each word to its opposite: a banal idea and an original one, a feeble push and a strong one, a hollow pipe and a solid rod.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
A remark that is so ordinary and overused that it is dull can be called ___.
a) subtle
b) vivid
c) candid
d) banal
Show answer
d) banal. Candid means honest, subtle means not obvious, and vivid means bright and clear.
Spell Probe
Choose the meaning of the misspelt word in the given sentence:
Everyone yawned through the banel speech, which repeated advice we had all heard many times before.
a) to open the mouth wide when tired
b) to say or do something again
c) so ordinary that it is dull
d) a talk given to an audience
Show answer
c) so ordinary that it is dull. The ending of banel is wrong; banal, ending in -al, describes the dull speech.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these would a writer use to make a banal story more interesting?
a) a plainer title
b) a smaller font size
c) a longer list of facts
d) a surprising twist
Show answer
d) a surprising twist
2. Most people would call ___ banal.
a) a riddle that nobody could solve
b) a song in a completely new style
c) an invention never seen before
d) a birthday rhyme heard a hundred times
Show answer
d) a birthday rhyme heard a hundred times
