mundane

comparative mundaner · superlative mundanest

1. Worldly, earthly, profane, vulgar as opposed to heavenly.

   Synonyms: profane, temporal, worldly, areligious, civil, earthly, irreligious, laicist · Antonyms: heavenly, arcane

2. Pertaining to the Universe, cosmos or physical reality, as opposed to the spiritual world.

   Amongst mundane bodies, six there are that do perpetually move, and they are the six Planets; of the rest, that is, of the Earth, Sun, and fixed Stars, it is disputable which of them moveth, and which stands still.

   1662 Thomas Salusbury, Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Dialogue 2)

3. Ordinary; not new; part of the mainstream culture.

   THE LIVERPOOL PARTY at Pat and Frank Milnes’ celebrated both the Gunpowder Plot and the Liverpool Club’s 400th and something meeting. Two mundane and non-fan friends of the hosts - women, too - played brag all night and Norman Weedall disappeared at 3 a.m.

   1959 December 1, Ron Bennett, Skyrack, number 10

   Synonyms: banal, boring, commonplace, everyday, routine, workaday, jejune, pedestrian

4. Tedious; repetitive and boring.

   Synonyms: banal, basic, mindless, beat, blah, commonplace, bland, boring

5. fantasyNon-magical; without supernatural powers or properties.

   The classic magical potion has been overshadowed by a number of mundane items, but still has its purposes as a quick one time consumable item.

   2014, C.N. Constantin, Jason Cable Hall, Dark Revelations - Book of Magic, Chris Constantin, →ISBN, Magical Items of Dark Revelations, page 311

   2 more examples

   Using magical water and magical plaster resulted in a magically saturated plaster that automatically cured at a rate comparable to mundane water and mundane plaster.

   2022, Kaleb "NorskDaedalus" England, “The Time of Our Limes” (chapter 17), in The Way Ahead, Podium Publishing, →ISBN

   The number of types of mana changes as men and fae explore the limits of mundane stuff and magic, getting smaller or larger as the theories change.

   2024, Rusty Reece, The Warrior & The Dragon, iUniverse, →ISBN

   Antonyms: magical, supernatural

plural mundanes

1. An unremarkable, ordinary human being.
2. derogatoryslangA person considered to be "normal", part of the mainstream culture, outside the subculture, not part of the elite group.

   The Demon Barber and I played Shock the Mundanes. The door would open up and we would start a sentence in mid-imaginary conversation, like—‘Of course, they never found the body.’

   1989 Spring, Lawrence Person, “Fear and Loathing in New Orleans: A Savage Journey Into the Heart of American Fandom”, in Nova Express, volume 2, number 3 (whole number #7), page 10

   2 more examples

   Some people just think your ^([sic]) a sicko or something for enjoying the art. I know that alot ^([sic]) of the time, I would rather see some nice nude furrygirls instead of pictures of nude mundanes.

   1996, Angel of Death, “furries vs. mundanes”, in alt.fan.furry (Usenet)

   "A guy dressed up as Pikachu called me a freak," complained one boys' love fan at Seattle's 2006 Sakura-Con. "To the mundanes, everyone at this con is a freak, but we're pariahs even to the other freaks."

   2010, Antonia Levi, “Introduction”, in Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, Dru Pagliassotti, editors, Boys' Love Manga: Essays on the Sexual Ambiguity and Cross-Cultural Fandom of the Genre, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 5

3. derogatoryA person who is not a Satanist.
4. slanglifestyleThe world outside fandom; the normal, mainstream world.

   Long famed in fandom, Mr. Bloch skyrocketed to prominence in the mundane when his autobiographical novel, PSYCHO, was made into a hit motion picture.

   1966 November, Lee Hoffman, “Our Authors”, in Science-Fiction Five-Yearly, number 4, page 35

5. fantasyA person with no magical or supernatural powers or properties.

   “Well, I can't help but wonder: are we wizards fighting like mundanes, or mundanes who happen to have a few wizard tools to call on?” asked Dusty.

   2015, Vincent Trigili, chapter 14, in Rise of Shadows, Lulu.com, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   The mundane world is the world you know. It is the world from which, new Nephilim, you have come, and its people, the mundanes, are the people you knew and the people you yourself were, until recently when you were changed.

   2013, Joshua Lewis, The Shadowhunter's Codex, Margaret K. McElderry Books, →ISBN, Bestiaire Part III: Angels and Men (section V), page 124

   “The rest of the complex on the coast is for the mundanes.” “Mundanes?”, queried Peter. “You know, the ordinary folk, like us”, Varak replied.

   2023, Michael Robert von Blucher-Altona, “Landings” (chapter 17), in Forkbraid: The Price of Peace, Michael Robert von Blucher-Altona, →ISBN