The Times Literary Supplement (London)
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How should you use pedestrian?
Most of us know pedestrian as a noun meaning someone who travels on foot. But the adjective sense of pedestrian as defined here is actually its original meaning. To be pedestrian was to be drab or dull, as if plodding along on foot rather than speeding on horseback or by coach. Pedestrian is often used to describe a colorless or lifeless writing style, but it can also describe politicians, public tastes, personal qualities, or possessions. In comparison with the elaborate stage shows put on by today's rock artists, for instance, most of the stage presentations of 1960s rock stars seem pedestrian.
Synonyms
Adjective
Examples of pedestrian in a Sentence
Nate Davis, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
That left me having to read through the manual, on paper even, a decidedly pedestrian introduction to this flashy gadget.
—Tim Stevens, Ars Technica, 6 July 2023
Elsewhere, deluxe yellow gold chains, with and without diamonds, were ubiquitous, but hardly pedestrian.
—Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 15 June 2023
Almost exactly 24 hours after the 2016 CZ31 event, at 7:37 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 30, the much larger 2013 CU83 asteroid, this one as big as 1,050 feet across, will swing by Earth at a relatively pedestrian 13,100 miles per hour, at over 3 million miles away.
—Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, 27 July 2022
The eRV2 has a range of just 108 miles, which is even less than the e-RV’s rather pedestrian 125-mile range.
—Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 19 Jan. 2023
By comparison, Voyager I, one of the fastest probes humans have ever deployed, travels at a relatively pedestrian 38,000 mph.
—Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 21 Feb. 2020
One morning in April, Pavel Golub, the owner of a mobile-phone-accessory shop in town, walked to the pedestrian bridge and joined a large crowd of people waiting for some kind of official announcement.
—Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023
Her accomplishments include securing funding for a pedestrian bridge over Route 50 in 2009 and shepherding through the construction of the Bailey’s Upper Elementary School inside a former office building.
—Antonio Olivo, Washington Post, 3 Jan. 2023
Aarian Marshall, WIRED, 6 Apr. 2024
Be mindful of pedestrians who may be walking around with their eyes on the sky.
—Eric D. Lawrence, Detroit Free Press, 5 Apr. 2024
But how did something so pedestrian — in the most literal of senses ...
—Josh Robbins, National Review, 5 Apr. 2024
The university has been trying to address issues with pedestrians crossing South University Drive since at least 2012.
—Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Apr. 2024
Why was there an enormous leg — at least one-story tall — sticking out of a building, dangling rather dangerously, a little provocatively, above pedestrians on the sidewalk?
—Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2024
Hopefully, this notion does not sound entirely too pedestrian, because after all, the venom directed at this humble Libertarian from some who disagree with my views can be incredibly toxic at times.
—Byron Harlan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Mar. 2024
At least 86 of the victims were pedestrians, while the rest were bicyclists, passengers in cars or riding motorcycles.
—Ryan Lillis, Sacramento Bee, 29 Mar. 2024
However, the driver must still yield the right-of-way to other traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians within the intersection or crosswalk, the vehicle code says.
—Angela Rodriguez, Sacramento Bee, 26 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pedestrian.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Pedestrian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pedestrian. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pedestrian
1 of 2 adjective
pedestrian
2 of 2 nounAdjective
from Latin pedestr-, pedestris "going on foot," from ped-, pes "foot" — related to centipede, impede, pawn entry 1, pedal
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