Meanings
comparative more prosaic · superlative most prosaic
- Straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry.
I was simply making the prosaic point that we are running late.
- usuallymain usageOverly plain, simple or commonplace, to the point of being boring.
She lived a prosaic life.
4 more examples
His account of the incident was so prosaic that I nodded off while reading it.
Our people are the most prosaic in the world, but the most faithful; and with curious reverence we keep up and transmit, from generation to generation, the superstition of what we call the education of a gentleman.
1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLCTheir steepness and abruptness were even greater than I had imagined from hearsay, and suggested nothing in common with the prosaic objective world we know.
1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 6, in The Whisperer in DarknessUltimately, though, the more prosaic goals carried the greater significance in this contest. Madrid have managed only one clean sheet on their way to winning this competition.
2017 June 3, Daniel Taylor, “Real Madrid win Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo double defeats Juve”, in The Guardian (London)Synonyms: humdrum, dull, unimaginative, banal, basic, mindless, beat, blah · Antonyms: turgid, bombastic, flowery
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivePertaining to or having the characteristics of prose.
adjectiveOverly plain, simple or commonplace, to the point of being boring.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot fanciful or imaginative
adjectivelacking wit or imagination
adjectivenot challenging; dull and lacking excitement
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*wer-“to turn, to bend”
- Old Latinprovorsus“straight ahead”
- Latinprosa“prose”
- Medieval Latinprosaicus“in prose”
- Middle Frenchprosaïque
- Englishprosaic
From Middle French prosaïque, from Medieval Latin prosaicus (“in prose”), from Latin prosa (“prose”), from prorsus (“straightforward, in prose”), from Old Latin provorsus (“straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), from vertō (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, to bend”).
More words from Middle French, Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πεζός
- πεζός (pezós)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
Bulgarian прозаичен, написан в проза
- прозаичен (prozaičen)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- написан в проза (napisan v proza)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- прозаичен (prozaičen)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- безинтересен (bezinteresen)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Catalan prosaic
- prosaicpertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
Chinese Mandarin 散文式的, 就事論事的 /就事论事的
- 散文式的 (sǎnwénshì de)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- 就事論事的 /就事论事的 (jiù shì lùn shì de)straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- 不帶感情的 /不带感情的 (bù dài gǎnqíng de)straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- 平淡的 (píngdàn de)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- 乏味的 (fáwèi de)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Czech prozaický, prozaický
- prozaickýpertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prozaickýstraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- střízlivýstraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- všedníoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- jednotvárnýoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Danish prosaisk, prosaisk
- prosaiskpertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prosaiskstraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- prosaiskoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Dutch prozaïsch, prozaïsch
- prozaïschstraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- prozaïschoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Finnish proosallinen, proosa-
- proosallinenpertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- proosa-pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- proosallinenstraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- arkipäiväinenstraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- ikävästraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- proosallinenoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- arkipäiväinenoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- tylsäoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
German prosaisch, prosaisch
- prosaischpertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prosaischoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Greek πεζός, πεζός
- πεζός (pezós)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- πεζός (pezós)straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- κοινότοπος (koinótopos)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- πεζός (pezós)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- τετριμμένος (tetrimménos)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Hungarian prózai, prózai
- prózaipertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prózaioverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Italian prosastico, prosaico
- prosasticopertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prosaicooverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- terra terraoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Japanese 散文的な, 退屈な
- 散文的な (sanbunteki na)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- 退屈な (taikutsu na)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
- 単調な (tanchō na)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Persian منثور, بیروح
- منثور (mansur)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- بیروح (biruh)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Polish prozaiczny, prozaiczny
- prozaicznypertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prozaicznystraightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- prozaicznyoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Portuguese prosaico
- prosaicopertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
Russian прозаический
- прозаический (prozaičeskij)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
Spanish prosaico, prosaico
- prosaicopertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prosaicooverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Swedish prosaisk, prosaisk
- prosaiskpertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- prosaiskoverly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Ukrainian прозаї́чний, прозаї́чний
- прозаї́чний (prozajíčnyj)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- прозаї́чний (prozajíčnyj)straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- прозаї́чний (prozajíčnyj)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Yiddish פּראָזאַיִש, פּראָזאַיִש
- פּראָזאַיִש (prozaish)pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose
- פּראָזאַיִש (prozaish)straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry
- פּראָזאַיִש (prozaish)overly plain or simple, to the point of being boring; humdrum
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prosaic
Anagrams
Cite this entry
prosaic. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prosaic
“prosaic.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prosaic. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prosaic,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prosaic.
Source: prosaic on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.