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View synonyms for ordinary

ordinary

[ awr-dn-er-ee ]

adjective

  1. of no special quality or interest; commonplace; unexceptional:

    One novel is brilliant, the other is decidedly ordinary; an ordinary person.

    Antonyms: exceptional, unusual, extraordinary

  2. plain or undistinguished:

    ordinary clothes.

  3. somewhat inferior or below average; mediocre.
  4. We plan to do the ordinary things this weekend.

    Synonyms: accustomed, regular

  5. Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. common, vulgar, or disreputable.
  6. (of jurisdiction) immediate, as contrasted with something that is delegated.
  7. (of officials) belonging to the regular staff or the fully recognized class.


noun

, plural or·di·nar·ies.
  1. the commonplace or average condition, degree, etc.:

    ability far above the ordinary.

  2. something regular, customary, or usual.
  3. Ecclesiastical.
    1. an order or form for divine service, especially that for saying Mass.
    2. the service of the Mass exclusive of the canon.
  4. History/Historical. a member of the clergy appointed to prepare condemned prisoners for death.
  5. English Ecclesiastical Law. a bishop, archbishop, or other ecclesiastic or his deputy, in his capacity as an ex officio ecclesiastical authority.
  6. (in some U.S. states) a judge of a court of probate.
  7. British. (in a restaurant or inn) a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service.
  8. a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare.
  9. Heraldry.
    1. any of the simplest and commonest charges, usually having straight or broadly curved edges.

ordinary

/ ˈɔːdənrɪ /

adjective

  1. of common or established type or occurrence
  2. familiar, everyday, or unexceptional
  3. uninteresting or commonplace
  4. having regular or ex officio jurisdiction

    an ordinary judge

  5. maths (of a differential equation) containing two variables only and derivatives of one of the variables with respect to the other
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. a common or average situation, amount, or degree (esp in the phrase out of the ordinary )
  2. a normal or commonplace person or thing
  3. civil law a judge who exercises jurisdiction in his own right
  4. usually capital an ecclesiastic, esp a bishop, holding an office to which certain jurisdictional powers are attached
  5. RC Church
    1. the parts of the Mass that do not vary from day to day Compare proper
    2. a prescribed form of divine service, esp the Mass
  6. the US name for penny-farthing
  7. heraldry any of several conventional figures, such as the bend, the fesse, and the cross, commonly charged upon shields
  8. history a clergyman who visited condemned prisoners before their death
  9. obsolete.
    1. a meal provided regularly at a fixed price
    2. the inn providing such meals
  10. in ordinary
    (used esp in titles) in regular service or attendance

    physician in ordinary to the sovereign

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • or·di·nar·i·ness noun
  • qua·si-or·di·nar·y adjective
  • su·per·or·di·nar·y adjective
  • un·or·di·nar·y adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinary1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English ordinarie (noun and adjective), from Latin ordinārius “regular, of the usual order,” equivalent to ordin- (stem of ordō “row, regular arrangement”) + -ārius adjective suffix; order, -ary
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Word History and Origins

Origin of ordinary1

C16: (adj) and C13: (some n senses): ultimately from Latin ordinārius orderly, from ordō order
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. in ordinary, in regular service:

    a physician in ordinary to the king.

  2. out of the ordinary,
    1. exceptional; unusual:

      Having triplets is certainly out of the ordinary.

    2. exceptionally good; unusually good:

      The food at this restaurant is truly out of the ordinary.

More idioms and phrases containing ordinary

see out of the ordinary .
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Synonym Study

See common.
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Example Sentences

The company also offers a Web dashboard of data for ordinary investors.

Internet shutdowns “hurt ordinary people by depriving us of our fundamental rights to access information, to connect with family members, and they also put our physical safety at risk,” Micek says.

From Fortune

The two of us primarily text, so a call was out of the ordinary.

These two appear to be ordinary, run-of-the-mill tectonic quakes.

Instead, wealth is transferred from ordinary investors to bubble sellers.

From Fortune

There was nothing out of the ordinary, but for the fact that Jim was gay.

The Rizzoli in New York City was no ordinary bookstore in its seventies heyday.

They refused to believe that ordinary humans could beat them at their own game.

At the White House on Monday, Obama praised Hagel as “no ordinary secretary of defense.”

“My experience was very ordinary, but very privileged,” she said.

Bacteria, when present in great numbers, give a uniform cloud which cannot be removed by ordinary filtration.

All the ordinary subjects in schools have been taught over and over again millions and millions of times.

In one sense, then, the new issue has adequate expansibility for ordinary needs.

When ordinary methods do not suffice, it can usually be cleared by shaking up with a little magnesium carbonate and filtering.

It behaves the same as glucose with all the ordinary tests, and can be distinguished only by polarization.

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More About Ordinary

What does ordinary mean?

Ordinary means usual, normal, or of no special quality.

Sometimes, the word is used in a negative way to mean somewhat inferior, below average, or just plain—in much the same way as the word mediocre.

Describing something as ordinary usually means that it’s very basic or commonplace—there’s nothing special or unusual about it. An ordinary day is one in which nothing unexpected happens.

You could describe a person as ordinary to mean that they’re normal, as in People treat me like a celebrity, but I’m just an ordinary guy. But using ordinary to describe a person can also be an insult, as in I don’t know what you see in him—he’s so ordinary.  

Ordinary can also be used as a noun (especially in the ordinary) referring to the common or usual state or condition. This is how the word is used in the phrase out of the ordinary, which means unusual, uncommon, or exceptional.

Example: He was so ordinary it was almost suspicious—no one’s that normal!

Where does ordinary come from?

The first records of the word ordinary come from the 1200s. It comes from the Latin ordinārius, meaning “regular” or “of the usual order.”

Ordinary things are regular—they exist in the usual order of things. The adverb form ordinarily means “usually” or “in an ordinary manner.”

Describing something as extraordinary doesn’t mean it’s “extra ordinary” or “extra normal” but instead means it’s “beyond ordinary”—it’s unusual, exceptional, or out of the ordinary.

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms of ordinary?

What are some synonyms for ordinary?

What are some words that share a root or word element with ordinary

What are some words that often get used in discussing ordinary?

How is ordinary used in real life?

Ordinary is commonly used to mean “normal” or “regular,” but it can also be used in a negative way to mean “inferior” or “not at all special.”

 

 

Try using ordinary!

Which of the following words would NOT be used to describe something that’s considered ordinary?

A. fantastic
B. unremarkable
C. dull
D. typical

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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