different between commonplace vs insipid

English

Etymology

A calque of Latin locus comm?nis, referring to a generally applicable literary passage, itself a calque of Ancient Greek ?????? ????? (koinòs tópos).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k?m?n?ple?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?m?n?ple?s/
• Hyphenation: com?mon?place

Adjective

commonplace (comparative more commonplace, superlative most commonplace)

1. Ordinary; not having any remarkable characteristics.

   Synonyms: routine, undistinguished, unexceptional; see also Thesaurus:hackneyed

   Antonyms: distinguished, inimitable, unique

Translations

Noun

commonplace (plural commonplaces)

1. A platitude or cliché.
2. Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring.
3. A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
   • 1710, Jonathan Swift, A Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit

     Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of common-place.

4. A commonplace book.

Translations

Verb

commonplace (third-person singular simple present commonplaces, present participle commonplacing, simple past and past participle commonplaced)

1. To make a commonplace book.
2. To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.
   • 1711, Henry Felton, Dissertation on Reading the Classics

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

3. (obsolete) To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

Related terms

• commonplace book

English

Etymology

From French insipide, from Latin ?nsipidus (“tasteless”), from in- (“not”) + sapidus (“savory”). In some senses, perhaps influenced by insipient (“unwise, foolish, stupid”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?n?s?p.?d/

Adjective

insipid (comparative more insipid, superlative most insipid)

1. Unappetizingly flavorless.

   Synonyms: tasteless, bland, vapid, wearish

2. Flat; lacking character or definition.

   Synonyms: boring, vacuous, dull, bland, characterless, colourless

Derived terms

Related terms

• insipient

Translations

Further reading

• “insipid”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• insipid at OneLook Dictionary Search

Romanian

Etymology

From French insipide.

Adjective

insipid m or n (feminine singular insipid?, masculine plural insipizi, feminine and neuter plural insipide)

1. insipid, tasteless

Declension

Related terms

• insipiditate