typical
/ˈtɪpɪk(ə)l
/adjective
1Having the distinctive qualities of a particular type of person or thing: a typical day a typical example of 1930s art deco typical symptoms...
- Unfortunately, this is hardly a typical example of the quality available in pubs.
- He has quality, is a typical modern player and has great technical ability.
- What is remarkable about those four, pretty typical examples is that they were all spoken in one day in late April.
Synonyms
representative, classic, quintessential, archetypal, model, prototypical, stereotypical;
distinctive, distinguishing, particular
normal, average, ordinary, standard, regular, routine, run-of-the-mill, stock, orthodox, conventional, predictable, unsurprising, unremarkable, unexceptional
informal bog-standard
1.1Characteristic of a particular person or thing: he brushed the incident aside with typical good humour how typical of Iris to think of such a detail...
- The sociodemographic characteristics were typical of patients seen at this hospital.
- This variation in the supposed identity of principal characters is typical of mythology.
- His character is formed by a sense of honour and duty typical of the baroque hero.
Synonyms
characteristic, in character, in keeping, to be expected, usual, normal, par for the course, predictable, true to form, true to type;
customary, habitual;
proverbial
informal … all over
1.2 informal Showing the characteristics expected of or popularly associated with a particular person or thing: ‘Typical woman!’ John said disapprovingly...
- In typical British tradition, the stands around the ground are uncovered and at the mercy of the sun.
- Not what you would expect of chips from your typical Chinese outlet.
- You may already have several ideas about typical British food, but the most popular dish in Britain is curry!
2Representative as a symbol; symbolic: the pit is typical of hell...
- The typical model of the family is the nuclear family consisting of two parents and their children.
- Our typical farmer cooperative today is built upon a model that uses debt to finance itself.
- It expects the typical customer to have an income of half the national average.
Derivatives
typicality
- But it's a story about specific people, and only a half-wit ever reads a story and assumes any character is a typicality, unless it's a type of character they've never come across before.
- Since when has typicality been a criterion of historical accuracy?
- But when I try to make my language more particular, I see that the life of this place is always emerging beyond expectation or prediction or typicality, that it is unique, given to the world minute by minute, only once, never to be repeated.
Origin
Early 17th century: from medieval Latin typicalis, via Latin from Greek tupikos, from tupos (see type).