bland
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Lacking in taste or flavor.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
blandIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈblænd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Lacking in taste or flavor.
figurative
Lacking interest; boring; dull.
Lacking in vigor.
Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
noun
A local government area (Bland Shire) in the Riverina region, New South Wales, Australia.
A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Lacking in taste or flavor.
Used this way, bland is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- flavorless , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: lacking in taste or flavor
Antonyms
Sense: lacking in taste or flavor
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.