prosaism
Definition
- Noun:
- A prosaic quality or characteristic: "prosaism" refers to the quality of being commonplace, dull, or lacking in imagination or poetic beauty.
- A prosaic expression: It can also mean a phrase or statement that is unpoetic, matter-of-fact, or lacking in literary style.
Usage Examples
- (The novel’s lack of poetic quality was noted.)
- (His remarks were unoriginal and ordinary.)
Advanced Usage
- "to fall into prosaism": to adopt a style or tone that is overly mundane or pedestrian.
- After the first few chapters, the story falls into prosaism, losing the imaginative spark it had at the start. (The narrative becomes dull and uncreative.)
Variants and Related Words
Prosaic (adj): having the qualities of prose; ordinary, dull, or lacking in imagination.
- The view from the window was prosaic — just a row of identical houses. (The view was unremarkable and commonplace.)
Prose (n): ordinary written or spoken language without metrical structure, as opposed to poetry.
- He wrote in clear, simple prose rather than in verse. (He used straightforward language, not poetry.)
Synonyms
- Commonplace: ordinary or unremarkable.
- Banality: a trite or obvious remark or quality.
- Pedestrian: lacking inspiration or excitement; dull.
Related Idioms
- No idioms directly associated with "prosaism" are in common use. However, the concept is often expressed via the idiom "as dull as dishwater" (extremely boring or uninteresting).
- The lecture was as dull as dishwater, full of prosaisms. (The lecture was very boring and ordinary.)