common

modif.

1. Commonplace

   ordinary, everyday, familiar, usual, general, universal, natural, normal, accepted, characteristic, customary, prevalent, current, prevailing, typical, conventional, routine, prosaic, trite, banal, hackneyed, overused, stock, stale, worn thin, worn-out, homely, colloquial, nonliterary, vernacular, vulgar, popular, of the folk, of the masses, plebeian, humble, lowly, workaday, provincial, unsophisticated, average, passable, undistinguished, informal, conformable, probable, basic, simple, unvaried, trivial, oft-repeated, monotonous, tedious, wearisome, casual, unassuming, bourgeois, Philistine, uneducated, artless, unrefined, untutored, plain, homespun, unadorned, uncultured, slangy, platitudinous, truistic, obvious, quotidian, orthodox, traditional, standard, mediocre, second-rate, insipid, stereotyped, patent, moderate, middling, abiding, indifferent, pedestrian, tolerable, innocuous, unremarkable, nondescript, mere, so-so, not too bad, run-of-the-mill*, humdrum*, garden variety*, household*, warmed-over*, fair-to-middling*, low-level*, nothing to write home about*, no great shakes*, comme ci, comme ca* (French), a dime a dozen*; see also colloquial, conventional 1, dull 4, fair 2, popular 1, 3, traditional 2.

   Antonyms unusual, unnatural, unique*, extraordinary. *

2. Of frequent occurrence

   customary, constant, usual; see frequent, habitual 1, regular 3.

3. Generally known

   general, prevalent, well-known; see familiar 1, traditional 2.

4. Low

   cheap, inferior, mean, vulgar; see poor 2, subordinate, vulgar 1.

5. Held or enjoyed in common

   shared, joint, mutual, communal, public, community, cooperative, united, belonging equally to, collective, reciprocal, coincident, correspondent, collaborative, consensual, general, socialistic, communistic, in common, commutual; see also cooperative 2, public 2, universal 3.

   Antonyms private*, individual*, personal.

common refers to that which is met with most frequently or is shared by all or most individuals in a group, body, etc., and may imply prevalence, usualness, or, in a depreciatory sense, inferiority or lack of distinction a common belief, a common thief; general implies connection with all or nearly all of a kind, class, or group and stresses extensiveness general unrest among the people; ordinary implies accordance with the regular or customary pattern; stressing commonplaceness and lack of special distinction an ordinary workday; familiar applies to that which is widely known and readily recognized a familiar feeling; popular and, in this connection, vulgar imply widespread currency or acceptance among the general public or the common people popular tastes, Vulgar Latin, with popular also used to indicate favor a popular song; vulgar, however, is rarely used now in this sense without pejorative connotations See also syn. study at mutual.

in common