Conventional

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kÉ™nˈvÉ›nʃənl/

Full definition of conventional

Adjective

1. Pertaining to a convention, as in following generally accepted principles, methods and behaviour.
• 2013-06-01, Ideas coming down the track, A “moving platform” scheme...is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.
2. Ordinary, commonplace.
   They wear conventional clothes, eat conventional food, and keep conventional hours.
• 1922, Ben Travers, A Cuckoo in the Nest Chapter 2, Mother...considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.
• 1980, Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage,The history of our study of our solar system shows us clearly that accepted and conventional ideas are often wrong, and that fundamental insights can arise from the most unexpected sources.
3. Banal, trite, hackneyed, unoriginal or clichéd.

Synonyms

• ("pertaining to a convention"): typical, canonical
• ("banal"): stereotypical

Antonyms

• ("pertaining to a convention"): atypical, out of the ordinary, unconventional
• ("ordinary"): imaginative

Derived terms

• conventionalism
• conventionalist
• conventionally
• conventional mortgage loan
• conventional war
• conventional warfare
• conventional weapon
• conventional weaponry
• conventional wisdom

Related terms

• convention

Noun

1. (finance) A conventional gilt-edged security, a kind of bond paying the holder a fixed cash payment (or coupon) every six months until maturity, at which point the holder receives the final payment and the return of the principal.