bland

Preposition: by

comparison: British pottery was somewhat bland by comparison to the European manufacturers.

Adjective complement with noun phrase

• find: Recommended for those who find most worship leaders bland.
• make: An elevated threshold for taste may make food taste bland or boring.

Modifies a noun

• uniformity: This does not have to mean a bland uniformity of pop, rock or punk music.
• reassurance: Why would humans prefer to ignore the evidence in favor of bland reassurance?
• exterior: Despite a bland exterior, celery is rich with potential.
• smile: He looked his incredulity at Daniel who returned him a bland smile.
• assurance: The usual bland assurances were received from the Jarvis employees present about improvement.
• diet: It's not so long ago that bland diets were in vogue.

Modifying Another Word

• disappointingly: They're convenient, but their cool, watery flavor is disappointingly bland.
• rather: James Bond spoof all to sell a rather bland car!
• fairly: In fact, the subject matter turned out to be fairly bland, with only a couple of exceptions.
• somewhat: They were sent to bed down amid the somewhat bland safety of the city's new town, to the north.
• incredibly: John Motson passed his sell by date at least two World Cups ago while the ITV bods sound incredibly bland.
• pretty: No one from the cast stands out - they are all pretty bland one-dimensional people with little distinguishing features.

Used with adjective complement

• seem: By contrast, the Abstract of the paper, much more widely read - seems seriously bland.
• taste: The food industry is trying to slowly cut down on salt without making things taste too bland.
• look: To stop the room looking bland you can introduce a lamp or rug in a vibrant aqua shade.
• become: By chasing profit, you become more bland, " is Duncan's take.
• get: We get more bland, more lacking in imagination, more lack of anything even slightly new.