Prosaic

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /pɹəʊˈzeɪ.ɪk/
• US IPA: /pɹoʊˈzeɪ.ɪk/
• Rhymes: -eɪɪk

Origin

From French prosaïque, from Medieval Latin prosaicus ("in prose"), from Latin prosa ("prose"), from prorsus ("straightforward, in prose"), from Old Latin provorsus ("straight ahead"), from pro- ("forward") + vorsus ("turned"), from vertō ("to turn"), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- ("to turn, to bend").

Full definition of prosaic

Adjective

1. Pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose.The tenor of Eliot's prosaic work differs greatly from that of his poetry.
2. (of writing or speaking) Straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry.I was simply making the prosaic point that we are running late.
3. (usually of writing or speaking but also figurative) Overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum.His account of the incident was so prosaic that I nodded off while reading it.She lived a prosaic life.

Synonyms

Antonyms

• poetic

Related terms

• prosaically
• prosaicness
• prose

Anagrams

• picaros