prosaic adj

1 not fanciful or imaginative; "local guides describe the history of various places in matter-of-fact tones"; "a prosaic and unimaginative essay" [syn: matter-of-fact]

2 lacking wit or imagination; "a pedestrian movie plot" [syn: pedestrian, prosy, earthbound]

3 not challenging; dull and lacking excitement; "an unglamorous job greasing engines" [syn: commonplace, humdrum, unglamorous, unglamourous]

English

Etymology

From French prosaïque < prosaicus ('in prose') < Latin prosa ('prose') < prorsus ('straightforward', 'in prose') < provorsus ('straight ahead') < pro- ('forward') + vorsus ('turned') < vertere ('to turn') < base *wer- ('to turn', 'to bend').

Pronunciation

• /proˈseɪ.ɪk/

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. In the context of "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. In the context of "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

See

Translations

Related terms

• prosaically
• prosaicness
• prose
• cheesy

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