bland
adjectiveverbnounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//bland//
- Canada//blænd//
- Australia//blæːnd//
- /[bleənd] ~ [blɛənd]/
- /[bleːnd] ~ [blɛːnd]/
Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
adjective
- 1
Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
a bland oil
a bland diet
- 2
Lacking in taste or flavor.
The coffee was bland.
- 3
Lacking in vigor.
First and foremost, alternative country artists generally claim to reject mainstream country music as musically indistinguishable from bland pop music, as lyrically superficial, and as having no artistic merit […]
- 4
figurativeLacking interest; boring; dull.
bland comment
He's reading Balzac and knocking back Prozac / It's a helping hand that makes you feel wonderfully bland
- 5
archaicMild; soft, gentle, balmy; smooth in manner; suave.
Where didst thou find, young Bard, thy sounding lyre? / Where the bland accent, and the tender tone?
“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mel- Proto-Indo-European *meld- Proto-Indo-European *mland-der. Latin blandusbor. English bland Borrowed from Latin blandus (“pleasant”).
verb
- 1
To mix; blend; mingle.
- 2
To connect; associate.
Etymology
From Middle English blanden, blonden, from Old English blandan (“to blend, mix, mingle; trouble, disturb, corrupt”), from Proto-Germanic *blandaną (“to mix, blend”). Cognate with Icelandic blanda, Norwegian, Danish blande, Swedish blanda. See also blend.
noun
- 1
Mixture; union.
- 2
A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands.
Etymology
From Middle English bland, from Old English bland, blond (“blending, mixture, confusion”), from Proto-Germanic *blandą (“a mixing, mixture”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlendʰ- (“to grow turbid, dim, see badly, be blind”). Cognate with Icelandic blanda (“a mixture of liquids, especially of hot whey and water”).
Forms
- plural
- blands
- comparative
- blander
- superlative
- blandest
- past tense
- blanded
- past participle
- blanded
- present participle
- blanding
- third person singular
- blands
bland · Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating.
Bland · A surname.blank · Free from writing, printing, or marks; having an empty space…Blank · A surname.