adj

ordinary

AW-dih-nuh-ree

adj

Normal, usual, or unremarkable; not special or different from what is expected.

"It was just an ordinary Tuesday until the phone rang."

"He led a fairly ordinary life before winning the lottery."

Plain or unimpressive; lacking any special quality.

"The meal was pretty ordinary — nothing worth writing home about."

How to Use Ordinary

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishNormal or unremarkable — the everyday, expected version of something.

Common mistake

Note the spelling has "ordin-" not "ordan-"; a common misspelling.

Common pairings

ordinary person out of the ordinary nothing ordinary about

more ordinary comparative, most ordinary superlative

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It was just an _____ Tuesday until the phone rang.

From Latin ōrdinārius, "regular, orderly," from ōrdō, "order."

vary Mary nary wary Gary Cary diary ovary weary scary teary deary