prosaic

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /proʊˈzeɪɪk/ UK /prəʊˈzeɪɪk/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
lacking imagination; dull and commonplace

His explanation was disappointingly prosaic.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · lacking imagination; dull... mundane dull commonplace banal pedestrian unimaginative ordinary humdrum

Opposites

poetic imaginative extraordinary inspired lyrical

Word family

Derived forms prosaicallyprosaicnessprosaicism

Related forms prose

Etymology

From Late Latin prosaicus ('in prose'), from Latin prosa ('prose'), from prosa oratio ('straightforward speech'), from prorsus ('straightforward'), a contraction of proversus ('turned forward').

prosaicus Latin prorsus Latin vertere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# prosaic

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** proʊˈzeɪɪk
**IPA (UK):** prəʊˈzeɪɪk

## Meanings
1. lacking imagination; dull and commonplace

## Examples
- His explanation was disappointingly prosaic.

## Synonyms
- mundane
- dull
- commonplace
- banal
- pedestrian
- unimaginative
- ordinary
- humdrum

## Antonyms
- poetic
- imaginative
- extraordinary
- inspired
- lyrical

## Derived Forms
- prosaically
- prosaicness
- prosaicism

## Related Forms
- prose

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: prosaicus
- Root: prorsus
- Root: vertere

## Etymology
From Late Latin prosaicus ('in prose'), from Latin prosa ('prose'), from prosa oratio ('straightforward speech'), from prorsus ('straightforward'), a contraction of proversus ('turned forward').

## AI Etymology
Prosaic comes from Late Latin prosaicus ('in prose'), from Latin prosa ('prose'), from prosa oratio ('straightforward speech'), from prorsus ('straightforward'), a contraction of proversus ('turned forward'). The historical chain includes Latin prosaicus, Latin prorsus, and Latin vertere. The quoted older senses, "in prose", "prose", "straightforward speech", "straightforward", and "turned forward", supply the semantic anchors for prosaic. The formation is best read as borrowed: the word prosaic carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "lacking imagination; dull and commonplace". English derivatives include prosaically, prosaicness, and prosaicism; related English forms include prose. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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