How to use banal in a sentence

19 example sentences · adjective

Banal means common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh. Example: “The movie’s dialogue was predictable and banal.”

Examples of banal by meaning

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

The movie’s dialogue was predictable and banal.
He made a few banal remarks about the weather.
One of the most banal scenes is suddenly invested with so much meaning!2013, John Carney, Begin Again (motion picture), spoken by Dan (Mark Ruffalo)

adjectiveRelating to a type of feudal jurisdiction or service.

They arrived in 1732, and were distributed gratis to the more important banal mills.1926, Thomas Guérin, Feudal Canada: The Story of the Seigniories of New France, page 72
To what extent were banal lords accountable to a prince or a king for their unrestricted exercise of public authority?2002, Wim Blockmans, Peter Hoppenbrouwers, Introduction to Medieval Europe 300–1500, page 138

More sentences with banal

They have made themselves into shopping malls with long, banal corridors to and from the gates.2008, Vanity Fair, volume 50, New York, N.Y.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 149, column 1. From the entry kludgily
And I discovered that the great majority were mediocre or worse—banal, treacly, shallow, half-assed, depressingly Barneyesque.2001, Istvan Banyai, − = + [Minus Equals Plus], New York, N.Y.: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., →ISBN, page 3. From the entry Barneyesque
At a banal level, to many of the accusers can be said in retort: I am rubber, you are glue.2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC. From the entry I'm rubber, you're glue
A Catholic may consider the Novus Ordo banal, but he may not proclaim that the new rite is invalid.2004, Michael Daniel, “What Constitutes a Valid Consecration?”, in CatholicCulture.org. From the entry Novus Ordo
To a Neptunian the common satisfaction of life seems too banal, and he often seeks the hidden mysteries of life.1983, Shakuntala Devi, “Characteristics of the Planets”, in Astrology for You, New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, published 2007, →ISBN, page 54. From the entry neptunian
Music produced outside of a situation between these poles of the human heart is of banal character, bloodless, watery.1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 194. From the entry pole
The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary.1906, Gelett Burgess, Are You a Bromide?. From the entry arbitrary
Bad suggestions have a banal influence.2009, Nancy Williams, A Penny for Your Thoughts, page 144. From the entry chronophage
Why is the wildest, willfullest daydream (which may be quite banal) no less than the most naive and flabby documentary welcomed, sometimes, with equal fervor?1967, Parker Tyler, “Is Film Criticism Only Propaganda?”, in Gregory Battcock, editor, The New American Cinema: A Critical Anthology, New…. From the entry willful
The importation of New World featherworks into Europe was a journey of dilution, degradation and eventual loss of meaning - a banal Disneyfication of indigenous dignity.2023, Tim Birkhead, Birds and Us, Penguin Books, page 149. From the entry disneyfication
Not all these photo pranks are as simple as planking: In stocking, memesters choose a banal stock photo and try to re-create it as faithfully as possible.2011 October 30, Erin McKean, “Let’s go owling!”, in The Boston Globe. From the entry memester
If you find the idea that mothers shape their children’s “whole” lives original rather than simultaneously banal and puerilely overstated, then Barnes & Noble, here you come!2007 October 21, Lee Siegel, “Mom’s in the Freezer”, in New York Times. From the entry puerilely
Castellans, often exercising control over a few villages and half a dozen small lordships, transformed their banal lordships into quasi-sovereign mini-states, independent of royal or comital sanction or control.2003, Benno Teschke, The Myth of 1648: Class, Geopolitics, and the Making of Modern International Relations, Verso, page 86. From the entry castellan
What may be life-alteringly significant to one person may be impossibly incoherent or banal to another because the two are at different phases in their lives.1996, Barbara Powell, Windows Into the Infinite: A Guide to the Hindu Scriptures, page 182. From the entry alteringly

Meaning of banal

adjective Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
adjective Relating to a type of feudal jurisdiction or service.

Full definition of banal

Questions about banal in a sentence

How do you use banal in a sentence?: Banal is used as an adjective. For example: “The movie’s dialogue was predictable and banal.”
What is a short sentence with banal?: “Bad suggestions have a banal influence.”
What does banal mean?: Banal means common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.

Adapted from Wiktionary: banal (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use banal in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/banal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.