commonplaces

Noun

commonplace (countable and uncountable, plural commonplaces)

1. A platitude or cliché.
   • Finally he began to mutter some commonplaces which meant nothing particularly.1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 17, in Active Service
2. Something that is ordinary; something commonly done or occurring.
   • It is odd how easily the common-places of morality or of sentiment glide off in conversation. Well, they are "exceedingly helpful," and so Lord Avonleigh found them.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 137
3. A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
   • Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of common-place.1710, Jonathan Swift, A Discourse concerning the Mechanical Operation of the Spirit
4. A commonplace book.

See all 8 meanings of commonplace