Adjective

(en adjective)

Ordinary; having no remarkable characteristics.

* 1824 , Sir (Walter Scott), , ch. 7:

"This Mr. Tyrrel," she said, in a tone of authoritative decision, "seems after all a very ordinary sort of person, quite a commonplace man."

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.}}

* 1911 , (w), (Under Western Eyes) , ch. 1:

I could get hold of nothing but of some commonplace phrases, those futile phrases that give the measure of our impotence before each other's trials.

Adjective

(er)

Having a small width; not wide; slim; slender; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth.

* {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)

, chapter=1 citation , passage=She was like a Beardsley Salome , he had said. And indeed she had the narrow eyes and the high cheekbone of that creature, and as nearly the sinuosity as is compatible with human symmetry.}}

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)

, chapter=14 citation , passage=Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.}}

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Catherine Clabby

, magazine=(American Scientist), title= Focus on Everything , passage=Not long ago, it was difficult to produce photographs of tiny creatures with every part in focus. That’s because the lenses that are excellent at magnifying tiny subjects produce a narrow depth of field. A photo processing technique called focus stacking has changed that.}}

Of little extent; very limited; circumscribed.

* Bishop Wilkins

The Jews were but a small nation, and confined to a narrow compass in the world.

(figuratively) Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude.

Contracted; of limited scope; illiberal; bigoted.

a narrow''' mind; '''narrow views

* Macaulay

a narrow understanding

Having a small margin or degree.

The Republicans won by a narrow majority.

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs

, title=Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia, work=BBC Sport citation , passage=As in their narrow defeat of Argentina last week, England were indisciplined at the breakdown, and if Georgian fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili had remembered his kicking boots, Johnson's side might have been behind at half-time.}}

(dated) Limited as to means; straitened; pinching.

narrow circumstances

Parsimonious; niggardly; covetous; selfish.

* Smalridge

a very narrow and stinted charity

Scrutinizing in detail; close; accurate; exact.

* Milton

But first with narrow search I must walk round / This garden, and no corner leave unspied.

(phonetics) Formed (as a vowel) by a close position of some part of the tongue in relation to the palate; or (according to Bell) by a tense condition of the pharynx; distinguished from wide.