Typical

'tɪpɪkəl

adjectiveBeginner🔥Very CommonQuality
1 meaning2 idioms/phrases3 questions

Definitions

1

Conforming to the characteristics of a type or representative of a group; usual.

'tɪpɪkəl

adjectiveneutralBeginner
Quality

Conforming to a type; characteristic; usual.

It's a typical Tuesday morning.

💡 Simply: Imagine you're talking about what's normal or expected. 'Typical' is like saying 'the usual' or 'the standard.' For example, a 'typical' weekday for a student might involve going to school and doing homework.

👶 For kids: When something is typical, it means it's like most other things of the same kind. Like, it's typical to eat breakfast in the morning!

More Examples

2

The weather was typical for this time of year.

3

The typical response to the question was silence.

How It's Used

General

"It's typical for teenagers to stay up late."

Statistics

"The typical value in this dataset is the average."

Idioms & expressions

a typical example

A representative instance illustrating the general character of something.

"The high-traffic road is a typical example of urban congestion."

to be typical of

To be characteristic or representative of something or someone.

"His generosity is typical of his kind nature."

From Late Latin *typicalis*, from Greek *tupikos* (τυπικός) "of a type, model," from *tupos* (τύπος) "type, pattern, model, impression."

Used since the 17th century, evolving from the Greek word 'typos', with a general and consistent usage in the English language.

Memory tip

Think 'type-ical'. It's what is 'typical' for that type.

Word Origin

LanguageGreek
Original meaning

"of a type, model"

typical exampletypical daytypical behaviortypical of

Common misspellings

typicalltypicaly

Usage

60%Spoken
40%Written