banality

/bəˈnælɪti/

//bəˈnælɪti// noun

"banality" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“banality” is uncommon English (frequency #57,882 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,882
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality of being banal.

Corpus desk

Index EN-banality · banality · English

banality · rank #57,882 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,882
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ballymena

Nearest frequency peer: Ballymena (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “banality”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “banality” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for banality
PropertyValue
Headwordbanality
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bəˈnælɪti/
Letters8
Frequency rank#57,882
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “banality” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).banalityfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Ballymena” (#57,881), “barangay” (#57,883), “Barbarossa” (#57,884). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “banality” is #57,882. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

banality is uncommon English at frequency #57,882 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bəˈnælɪti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for banality, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French banalité, from banal, equivalent to banal + -ity. The correct English form is banality, spelled B-A-N-A-L-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being banal.
  2. 2
    Something which is banal.
  3. 3
    A 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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The concept of the banality of evil came into prominence following the publication of Hannah Arendt's 1963 book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, which was based on the trial of Adolph Eichmann in Jerusalem.
  2. The law of banality, one of the most oppressive products of feudalism, was revived for the advantage of the nobility.

Etymology

From French banalité, from banal, equivalent to banal + -ity.

This word in other languages

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 "banality"?
"banality" is spelled B-A-N-A-L-I-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /bəˈnælɪti/.
What does "banality" mean?
As a noun, "banality" means: The quality of being banal.
How do you pronounce "banality"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "banality" is /bəˈnælɪti/. 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 "banality"?
From French banalité, from banal, equivalent to banal + -ity. 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 "banality", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list