banality
/bəˈnælɪti/noun
banality is spelled B-A-N-A-L-I-T-Y: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, banality means “The quality of being banal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of banality is banalities.
How many letters and syllables are in banality?
| Letters | 8: B-A-N-A-L-I-T-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is banality?
Banality appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce banality?
- /bəˈnælɪti/
- /beɪˈnælɪti/
Banality has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-banality.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of banality
- banalities plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does banality mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being banal.
- 2
Something which is banal.
- 3
rareA feudal right or obligation, especially the obligation for a peasant to grind grain at the lord's mill, or the profits accruing from such rights.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Banality in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense quality of being banal:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | banalité |
| German | Banalität |
| Portuguese | banalidade |
| Spanish | banalidad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does banality come from?
From French banalité, from banal, equivalent to banal + -ity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).