banal

/bəˈnɑːl/

//bəˈnɑːl// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"banal" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“banal” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,531. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,531
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.

Corpus desk

Index EN-banal · banal · English

banal · rank #33,531 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,531
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH basking

Nearest frequency peer: basking (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “banal”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “banal” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

banal vs bank
60% similar
banal vs band
60% similar
banal vs bang
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for banal
PropertyValue
Headwordbanal
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/bəˈnɑːl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#33,531
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “banal”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).banallands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “basking” (#33,532), “Bahia” (#33,529), “baz” (#33,533). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “banal” is #33,531. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around banal (IPA /bəˈnɑːl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #33,531 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for banal, with forms such as "abnal", "baanl", and "banall". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bank", "band", "bang", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French banal (“held in common, relating to feudal service, by extension commonplace”), from Old French banel, related to Medieval Latin bannālis (“subject to feudal authority”), from Latin bannus (“jurisdiction”), both ultimately from Proto-Ge… The correct English form is banal, spelled B-A-N-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
  2. 2
    Relating to a type of feudal jurisdiction or service.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how banal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. banal clichés
  2. banal conversation

Etymology

Borrowed from French banal (“held in common, relating to feudal service, by extension commonplace”), from Old French banel, related to Medieval Latin bannālis (“subject to feudal authority”), from Latin bannus (“jurisdiction”), both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to order, summon, forbid”). Equivalent to ban + -al. See also ban, abandon.

This word in other languages

banal(Español)banal(Français)banal(Deutsch)banal(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abnal
  • baanl
  • banall
  • banla
  • bannal
  • bbanal
  • bnaal

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of banal - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

abnal2baanl2banall1banla2bannal1bbanal1bnaal2
Edit distance from "banal"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "banal"?
"banal" is spelled B-A-N-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /bəˈnɑːl/.
What does "banal" mean?
As an adjective, "banal" means: Common in a boring way, to the point of being predictable; containing nothing new or fresh.
What words are commonly confused with "banal"?
"banal" is commonly confused with "bank", "band", "bang". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "banal"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "banal" is /bəˈnɑːl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "banal"?
Borrowed from French banal (“held in common, relating to feudal service, by extension commonplace”), from Old French banel, related to Medieval Latin bannālis (“subject to feudal authority”), from Latin bannus (“jurisdiction”), both ultimately fro... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "banal", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Bahia#33,529boned#33,541Annan#33,512Camus#33,553

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

Wessex7 variantsConnell7 variantsCoors7 variantsduper7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list