normalcy

N1O1R1M3A1L1C3Y4
US/ˈnɔɹməlsi/

noun

The state of being geometrically normal, at a right angle.

UncommonScrabble 15

Meanings

nounnormalcy (countable and uncountable, plural normalcies)

plural normalcies

  1. countableuncountablemathematicsThe state of being geometrically normal, at a right angle.
  2. UScountableuncountableThe state of being normal; the fact of being normal; normality.

    When so I ponder, here apart, / What shallow boons suffice my heart, / What dust-bound trivia capture me, / I marvel at my normalcy.

    1928, Dorothy Parker, “The Searched Soul”, in Sunset Gun, New York: Boni & Liveright, page 36
    3 more examples

    America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; not surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise; not submergence in internationality but sustainment in triumphant nationality.

    1920 May 14, Warren G. Harding, “Presidential Speeches: Warren G. Harding Presidency: May 14, 1920: Readjustment”, in Miller Center, University of Virginia

    The homosexual dismisses heterosexual love as a distasteful bondage to normalcy and bourgeois domestication, but the Platonic lover of the soul is dismissing all sexuality as bondage to the physical world.

    1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 193

    I’ve been consistently awed by how good designers can create normalcy out of chaos; they can clearly communicate ideas through the organizing and manipulating of words and pictures.

    2001, Jeffery Veen, The Art & Science of Web Design, →ISBN, page 104

Synonyms & antonyms

nounbeing within certain limits that define the range of normal functioning

Similar

nounexpectedness as a consequence of being usual or regular or common

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From normal + -cy. The original sense was mathematical. The broader sense was popularized in the United States by its use by President Warren G. Harding.https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=normalcy

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic الحَالَة الطَبِيعِيَّة
  • الحَالَة الطَبِيعِيَّةstate of being normal
Bulgarian норма́лност
  • норма́лност (normálnost)state of being normal
Catalan normalitat
  • normalitatstate of being normal
Chinese Mandarin 正常, 常態 /常态
  • 正常 (zhèngcháng)state of being normal
  • 常態 /常态 (chángtài)state of being normal
  • 正規 /正规 (zhèngguī)state of being normal
Czech normálnost, normalita
  • normálnoststate of being normal
  • normalitastate of being normal
Danish normalitet
  • normalitetstate of being normal
Dutch normaliteit
  • normaliteitstate of being normal
Esperanto normaleco
  • normalecostate of being normal
Estonian normaalsus
  • normaalsusstate of being normal
Finnish normaalius, normaalitila
  • normaaliusstate of being normal
  • normaalitilastate of being normal
French normalité
  • normalitéstate of being normal
German Normalität
  • Normalitätstate of being normal
Greek κανονικότης
  • κανονικότης (kanonikótis)state of being normal
Hebrew נורמליות
  • נורמליות (nurmalyút)state of being normal
Hungarian szabályszerűség, természetszerűség
  • szabályszerűségstate of being normal
  • természetszerűségstate of being normal
Irish normáltacht
  • normáltachtstate of being normal
Italian normalità
  • normalitàstate of being normal
Japanese 正常
  • 正常 (seijō)state of being normal
Korean 정상
  • 정상 (jeongsang)state of being normal
Latvian normālums, normalitāte
  • normālumsstate of being normal
  • normalitātestate of being normal
  • parastumsstate of being normal
  • parastībastate of being normal
Lithuanian normalumas
  • normalumasstate of being normal
Norwegian normalitet
  • normalitetstate of being normal
Polish normalność
  • normalnośćstate of being normal
Portuguese normalidade
  • normalidadestate of being normal
Romanian normalitate
  • normalitatestate of being normal
Russian норма́льность
  • норма́льность (normálʹnostʹ)state of being normal
Slovak normálnosť
  • normálnosťstate of being normal
Spanish normalidad
  • normalidadstate of being normal
Swedish normalitet
  • normalitetstate of being normal
Turkish normallik
  • normallikstate of being normal
Ukrainian норма́льність
  • норма́льність (normálʹnistʹ)state of being normal
Cite this entry
APA

normalcy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/normalcy

MLA

“normalcy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/normalcy. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “normalcy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/normalcy.

Source: normalcy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.