Synonyms: Boring

A bromide, a compound made from the element bromine, was originally a sedative. Early in the twentieth century, bromide became a descriptor for a boring person, and soon settled into its current meaning: a bland or banal statement.

A Hackney was originally a carriage horse, and over time hackneyed became a descriptor for anything, especially expressions or literary devices, that has been seen a million times before.

Humdrum probably originated as a reduplication of hum, meant to mimic the sound of someone droning on and on.

Monotone literally means "one note" in Greek. Like humdrum, above, it describes a person, a speech, or a performance with no variation or dynamic range. "Blah blah blah" —delivered in a dull, even voice — provides a good illustration of the concept.

Mundus means "world" or Earth" in Latin, so something mundane is earthy, humble, or common: the opposite of heavenly.

Where poetry is often written in verse, prose is plain text like a novel or the newspaper. So to call a poem or other work of art prosaic is to say that it's ordinary, everyday, and not at all poetic.

Stodge is an obsolete verb for "stuff," as one would a sausage or a pillow. So stodgy describes something heavy, thick, or dull.

Stultificare is a Latin verb meaning "to appear foolish." In English, stultify means "to make useless," and to call something stultifying is to say that it drains your strength, sapping your will to live.

If a song lyric is a common phrase or a cliché, that's trite: something you've heard before, unoriginal, and uninspiring.