Commonplace vs Classic - What's the difference?
commonplace | classic | Related terms |
Ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics.
* 1824 , Sir (Walter Scott), , ch. 7:
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1
, passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}
* 1911 , (w), (Under Western Eyes) , ch. 1:
A platitude or .
* 1899 , , Active Service , ch. 17:
* 1910 , , His Hour , ch. 4:
Something that is ordinary.
* 1891 , , "A Case of Identity" in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes :
A memorandum; something to be frequently consulted or referred to.
* Jonathan Swift
A commonplace book.
To make a commonplace book.
To enter in a commonplace book, or to reduce to general heads.
* Felton
(obsolete) To utter commonplaces; to indulge in platitudes.
* 1910 , , His Hour , ch. 4:
Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art.
* 1661 , ,
* (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
Exemplary of a particular style.
Exhibiting timeless quality.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=20 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-01-01, author=Paul Bartel, Ashli Moore
, volume=101, issue=1, page=47–48, magazine=(American Scientist)
, title= Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds.
* (Felicia Hemans) (1804-1864)
(euphemistic) Traditional; original.
A perfect and/or early example of a particular style.
An artistic work of lasting worth
The author of such a work.
* Macaulay
A major, long-standing sporting event
(dated) One learned in the literature of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome; a student of classical literature.
Commonplace is a related term of classic.
As adjectives the difference between commonplace and classic
is that commonplace is ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics while classic is of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art.As nouns the difference between commonplace and classic
is that commonplace is a platitude or while classic is a perfect and/or early example of a particular style.As a verb commonplace
is to make a commonplace book.commonplace
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- "This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man."
- I could get hold of nothing but of some commonplace phrases, those futile phrases that give the measure of our impotence before each other's trials.
Synonyms
* routine * undistinguished * unexceptional * See alsoAntonyms
* distinguished * inimitable * uniqueNoun
(en noun)- Finally he began to mutter some commonplaces which meant nothing particularly.
- And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
- "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere commonplaces of existence."
- Whatever, in my reading, occurs concerning this our fellow creature, I do never fail to set it down by way of commonplace .
Verb
(commonplac)- I do not apprehend any difficulty in collecting and commonplacing an universal history from the historians.
- And something angered Tamara in the way the Prince assisted in all this, out-commonplacing her friend in commonplaces with the suavest politeness.
- (Francis Bacon)
classic
English
Alternative forms
* classick (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
- During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
- Give, as thy last memorial to the age, / One classic drama, and reform the stage.
citation, passage=The story struck the depressingly familiar note with which true stories ring in the tried ears of experienced policemen. No one queried it. It was in the classic pattern of human weakness, mean and embarrassing and sad.}}
Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight, passage=Many of these classic methods are still used, with some modern improvements. For example, with the aid of special microphones and automated sound detection software, ornithologists recently reported […] that pine siskins (Spinus pinus ) undergo an irregular, nomadic type of nocturnal migration.}}
- Though throned midst Latium's classic plains.
Synonyms
* classicalNoun
(en noun)- Raised him to the rank of a legitimate English classic .
