Bland

How to spell bland

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce bland

What does bland mean?

1. adjectiveLacking strong flavour, character, or interest; unexcitingly mild.

Bland in a sentence

• The hotel soup was thin and bland, with almost no seasoning.

• The report was accurate but bland, offering no fresh ideas.

Where does bland come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes directly from the Latin blandus, which meant 'smooth, soft, caressing' and also 'flattering' or 'agreeable in manner'. English adopted it in the early 1600s, at first to describe a person or manner that was gentle, soothing and pleasantly mild rather than harsh. From that idea of mildness the meaning gradually slid toward the modern, faintly negative sense of 'so mild as to be dull', whether describing food without strong flavour or a personality without spark. The same Latin root survives in the verb 'blandish', meaning to coax with soft, flattering words, and in 'blandishment', a flattering enticement. Because the word is short and spelled exactly as it sounds, its main spelling pitfall is simply remembering that it ends in a plain '-and' with no silent letters.

How the word is built

• bland (from Latin blandus: smooth, mild, soothing); a single root adjective with no prefix or suffix