Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Characterized by a moderate, unperturbed, or tranquil quality, especially:
- adj. Pleasant in manner; smooth: a bland smile.
- adj. Not irritating or stimulating; soothing: a bland diet.
- adj. Exhibiting no personal worry, embarrassment, or concern: told a series of bland lies.
- adj. Dull and insipid: a bland little drama.
- adj. Having little or no distinctive flavor: bland cooking.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To mix; blend.
- n. Mixture; union.
- n. An agreeable summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland islands.
- Mild; soft; gentle; balmy.
- Affable; suave; soothing; kindly: as, “bland words,”
- Mild; free from irritating qualities: said of certain medicines: as, bland oils.
- Not stimulating: said of food. Synonyms Mild, etc. See
gentle . - To flatter; blandish.
Wiktionary
- adj. Mild; soft, gentle, balmy; smooth in manner; suave.
- adj. Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
- adj. Lacking in taste or vigor.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Mild; soft; gentle; smooth and soothing in manner; suave.
- adj. Having soft and soothing qualities; not drastic or irritating; not stimulating.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. lacking taste or flavor or tang
- adj. smoothly agreeable and courteous with a degree of sophistication
- adj. lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting.
Etymologies
- Latin blandus, caressing, flattering; see mel-1 in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Natalie carefully kept her expression bland, though her stomach clenched at the words.”
““There are some questions I wanted to ask her, not being invited to attend the postmortem …” He kept his expression bland, standing on his dignity.”
“She kept her gaze level and her expression bland, but her teeth were gritted.”
“The Japanese love "subtle" flavors (what I call bland).”
“I do think that "bland" is NOT the way to go, not in an age of unparalleled consumer choice.”
“Even as American officers talk publicly in bland clichés about partnering with and improving the performance of the Karzai government, the grim reality of Afghan public life is distinguished by corruption, criminality, and poverty.”
“Almost always frijol negro and usually as a thin bland soup.”
“No, he'd like to teach the world chant in bland monotony, he'd like to put a bloody end to Christianity.”
“Valentine turned to watch Aldertree with an expression of bland interest as the Inquisitor staggered, collided with a pillar, and sprawled awkwardly to the ground.”
“In this simple soup, however, bland is the descriptive word -- though not unpleasantly bland.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bland’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 624 more...
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Describing the Taste of Foods
yummy, zesty, piquant, pungent, sharp, spicy, poignant, delicious, ambrosial, appetizing, delectable, heavenly and 194 more...
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Land
A list of terms for land, landholdings, or words that contain the string -land-.
scabland, wheatland, cornland, slander, land-locked, dryland, riceland, clandestine, acreage, island, Iceland, Greenland and 230 more...
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Words to Describe The Taste of Food
This list seeks to address a pet annoyance of mine. It occurs when chefs, food critics and travel writers, usually on television, taste something that looks either delicious or unusual and then in...
unctuous, sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, piquant, savory, tangy, luscious, delectable, brackish and 66 more...
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Kingly epithets
Take one of CharlesFerdinand's excellent Merovingians or Goths, add a "the" and one of these descriptors, and presto, a character for your long-planned spoof fantasy novel.
unlikely, chuckleheaded, aloof, lacklustre, slow, murky, neurotic, clichéd, pediculous, dour, bungling, dandy and 23 more...
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easy
creasy, over easy, free-and-easy, greasy, speakeasy, take it easy, weasy, lope, leisurely, wing chair, uncomplicated, luminous and 38 more...
jmjarmstrong JM reckons TV is the bland leading the bland Aug 25, 2011
fbharjo Ghost town in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. Also Bland Canyon that is somewhat grand.
Blando &
Bland Canyon Feb 20, 2011