What does ordinary mean?
Ordinary describes something that is common, usual, or unremarkable. It often implies that a person, event, object, or situation is not unusual, distinguished, or noteworthy, but the word is generally neutral rather than strongly negative: an ordinary day may be uneventful yet pleasant, and an ordinary person need not be unimportant. As a noun, an ordinary is someone without special status or distinction, a usage that is more literary and less common than the adjective. The word appears naturally in expressions such as ordinary people, ordinary life, and ordinary conversation. Its history is more interesting than its everyday meaning suggests: it comes through Old French from Latin ordinarius, meaning “according to order” or “usual,” while extraordinary, its familiar opposite, originally referred to something outside the ordinary order.
Common, usual, or typical; not special, remarkable, or unusual.
"The train was delayed by an ordinary technical fault."
Can sound dismissive when contrasted with something important or impressive, but it is also used neutrally to describe routine aspects of life.
A person who is not distinguished by special rank, importance, or achievement.
"The novel follows the lives of several ordinary people in a small town."
Less frequent than the adjective and somewhat literary in tone.
The plural is possible but uncommon, especially outside literary or formal contexts.
"The story is chiefly concerned with the lives and aspirations of ordinary people."
Ordinary and extraordinary are linguistic opposites, but their shared history points to order: extraordinary literally means “outside the order.”
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ordinary come from?
The adjective entered English through Old French ordinaire, which came from Latin ordinarius, a form of ordinare, “to arrange” or “set in order.” In its earlier development, the word referred to what was regular, customary, or according to the established order, before acquiring the modern sense of common or unexceptional. The family includes cognates and related formations such as order, ordinal, coordinate, and subordinate. Its opposite extraordinary has a parallel history, being formed from Latin extra, “outside,” and ordinem, “order,” and originally denoting something outside the normal order or arrangement.
Related word forms
How ordinary is actually used
The adjective is neutral in tone and very common in formal and informal contexts. As a noun, it is less frequent and can sound somewhat literary or mildly dismissive, especially in the phrase “the great and the ordinary.”
Easily confused with ordinary
As an adjective, ordinary means usual or unexceptional; as a noun, an ordinary is a person without special rank or distinction.