Banalità

Banalità, in Italian banalità, denotes the quality or state of being banal: something that is ordinary, trivial, or lacking originality. It is used to describe ideas, objects, or behavior that appear dull, conventional, or repetitive, and that fail to surprise or engage.

The term derives from the adjective banale (banal), which in turn comes from the Old French banal and ultimately from later Latin roots associated with common or customary use. The abstract noun is formed with the suffix -ità, yielding banalità to express the general condition of banality.

In cultural and critical discourse, banalità is often employed to critique clichés, mass culture, or routine aspects of daily life. It can highlight the tension between everyday familiarity and the desire for novelty or depth. The expression banalità del male, widely known in Italian through Hannah Arendt’s concept of the “banality of evil,” refers to the idea that evil can arise from ordinary, thoughtless conformity rather than from extraordinary malevolence, a notion that has influenced ethical and political discussion in Italy as elsewhere.

Common synonyms include trivialità, ovvietà and quotidianità, while its antonyms are originalità, profondità and innovazione. Depending on context, banalità can carry a neutral sense of commonness or a critical sense of dull conformity, reflecting attitudes toward culture, media, and everyday life.