Etymology

From convention +‎ -alCategory:English terms suffixed with -al#CONVENTIONAL.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈvɛnʃənl̩/Category:English 4-syllable words#CONVENTIONALCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#CONVENTIONAL

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#CONVENTIONAL

Adjective

conventional (comparative more conventional, superlative most conventional)Category:English lemmas#CONVENTIONALCategory:English adjectives#CONVENTIONALCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CONVENTIONALCategory:Pages with entries#CONVENTIONALCategory:Pages with 1 entry#CONVENTIONAL

1. Pertaining to a convention, as in following generally accepted principles, methods and behaviour.

   Synonyms: canonical, typical; customary, traditional; see also Thesaurus:conformant, Thesaurus:orthodox

   Antonyms: atypical, out of the ordinary, unconventional, nonconventional

   • 2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist‎, volume 407, number 8838, archived from the original on 11 March 2023, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):

     A “moving platform” scheme […] is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONVENTIONAL

   • 2019 June 21, Adrienne Matei, “In praise of short men: will the rise of ‘short kings’ spell the fall of toxic masculinity?”, in The Guardian‎, archived from the original on 6 August 2020:

     Young-White’s paeans to short kings encourage us to confront society’s overvaluation of men’s height, and recognize the guys under 6ft whose positive attitudes render them nothing short of regal. A short king isn’t just any male-presenting person of modest stature – it’s someone who has the strength of character to flourish in the face of conventional male beauty standards.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONVENTIONAL

2. Ordinary, commonplace.

   Synonyms: customary, mundane, typical; see also Thesaurus:normal

   They wear conventional clothes, eat conventional food, and keep conventional hours.Category:English terms with usage examples#CONVENTIONAL

   • 1908, Henry James, chapter XXIX, in The Portrait of a Lady (The Novels and Tales of Henry James; IV), New York edition, volume II, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC; republished as The Portrait of a Lady (EBook #2834), United States: Project Gutenberg, 1 September 2001:

     “You’re not conventional?” Isabel gravely asked. “I like the way you utter that word! No, I’m not conventional: I’m convention itself. You don’t understand that?”

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONVENTIONAL

   • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:

     Mother […] considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONVENTIONAL

   • 1980, Carl Sagan, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage:

     The history of our study of our solar system shows us clearly that accepted and conventional ideas are often wrong, and that fundamental insights can arise from the most unexpected sources.

     Category:English terms with quotations#CONVENTIONAL

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
3. Banal, trite, hackneyed, unoriginal or clichéd.

   Synonyms: prosaic, stereotypical; see also Thesaurus:hackneyed

   Antonym: imaginative

4. (weaponryCategory:en:Weapons#CONVENTIONAL) Pertaining to a weapon which is not a weapon of mass destruction.

   Antonym: nuclear

5. (agricultureCategory:en:Agriculture#CONVENTIONAL) Making use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

   Antonym: organic

6. (bridgeCategory:en:Bridge#CONVENTIONAL) In accordance with a bidding convention, as opposed to a natural bid.

   Synonym: artificial

   Antonym: natural

Noun

conventional (plural conventionals)Category:English lemmas#CONVENTIONALCategory:English nouns#CONVENTIONALCategory:English countable nouns#CONVENTIONALCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CONVENTIONALCategory:Pages with entries#CONVENTIONALCategory:Pages with 1 entry#CONVENTIONAL

1. (financeCategory:en:Finance#CONVENTIONAL) A conventional gilt-edged security, a kind of bond paying the holder a fixed cash payment (or coupon) every six months until maturity, at which point the holder receives the final payment and the return of the principal.

Further reading

• Raymond Williams (1983), “Conventional”, in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, revised American edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 80.