Definition

Occurring frequently or widely; ordinary, unremarkable, and shared by many; lacking distinctive qualities or rarity.

Example Usage

Depression is a common side effect of that medication, affecting about one in five patients.

Origin

From Latin communis (shared, mutual), related to communitas (community).

Fun Fact

The phrase 'common sense' dates to the 1600s but was understood differently then—it meant collective judgment rather than basic practical wisdom.

Source: Definition backfill (hailey)

Related Terms

Intermediate

Friday voice

That insufferable tone of joy and freedom that bubbles out when you're about to have multiple days off while everyone else suffers through their workweek. Not actually restricted to Fridays—this vocal phenomenon can occur on any day preceding your personal weekend, making you the most hated person in the office. Your enthusiasm is their pain.

💼 Corporate / Business
Advanced

rubber coyote

A corporate buzzword for a solution that sounds clever in PowerPoint but fails spectacularly in practice. Named after the brilliant strategy of using fake predator decoys to scare away geese—which works about as well as you'd expect. It's the business equivalent of thoughts and prayers: well-intentioned, completely ineffective, and beloved by middle management.

💼 Corporate / Business
Beginner

cultivate

The art of growing something—whether it's crops, relationships, or a toxic workplace culture. What CEOs claim they're doing with company talent (spoiler: they're not).

💼 Corporate / Business
Beginner

Jargonish

The art and language of professional jargon — specialized terminology, buzzwords, and insider lingo used across industries to sound authoritative, signal expertise, or obscure simple ideas behind complex-sounding language.

💼 Corporate / Business📱 Gen-Z / Internet Slang
Intermediate

dotted line reporting

A secondary reporting relationship where you're accountable to someone who isn't technically your boss, creating a delightful matrix of conflicting priorities and unclear authority. Confusion by organizational design.

💼 Corporate / Business
Advanced

transmaterialization

A process of industrial or economic transformation in which materials demand shifts to different or higher-quality materials across different historical cycles, or the conversion of products into services.

💼 Corporate / Business

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Beginner

Chooch

A vape and/or an e-cigarette that contains nicotine....