| No. | Term | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | A foregone conclusion | Certain in advance; no suspense. |
| 2. | A safe bet | Very likely; low risk. |
| 3. | A sure thing | Virtually guaranteed outcome. |
| 4. | As regular as sunrise | Reliably recurring. |
| 5. | Axiomatically true | True by accepted principle. |
| 6. | Banal | So common it’s dull. |
| 7. | Been there, done that | Overfamiliar; already experienced. |
| 8. | Business as usual | Normal; nothing changes. |
| 9. | By rote | Done mechanically from memory. |
| 10. | By the book | Following rules exactly. |
| 11. | Calculated | Planned to achieve an outcome. |
| 12. | Certifiable | Easily proven; unmistakable. |
| 13. | Clockwork | Happening with regular precision. |
| 14. | Commonplace | Ordinary; frequently encountered. |
| 15. | Conventional | Following usual standards or norms. |
| 16. | Cookie-cutter | Uniform; lacking individuality. |
| 17. | Cut-and-dried | Already decided; not debatable. |
| 18. | De rigueur | Expected by current convention. |
| 19. | Dead certain | Absolutely sure to happen. |
| 20. | Determinable | Able to be figured out. |
| 21. | Determinate | Fixed; not open-ended. |
| 22. | Expected | Anticipated as normal. |
| 23. | Familiar | Well-known from repetition. |
| 24. | Fated | Seemingly destined to occur. |
| 25. | Fixed | Set and unchanging. |
| 26. | Foreordained | Decided ahead of time. |
| 27. | Foreseeable | Able to be anticipated. |
| 28. | Formulaic | Following a standard formula. |
| 29. | Going through motions | Acting routinely without thought. |
| 30. | Guaranteed | Certain; assured in advance. |
| 31. | Hackneyed | Overused; lacking freshness. |
| 32. | Ho-hum | Unexciting; routine. |
| 33. | In the bag | Virtually secured already. |
| 34. | Inevitable | Unavoidable; bound to happen. |
| 35. | Inflexible | Not adaptable; rigid. |
| 36. | Invariable | Not changing; constant. |
| 37. | Ironclad | Certain; impossible to dispute. |
| 38. | Just as expected | Matching prior expectations exactly. |
| 39. | Known quantity | Well understood; no surprises. |
| 40. | Lackluster | Dull; not engaging. |
| 41. | Lather-rinse-repeat | Repetitive; same cycle. |
| 42. | Like clockwork | Happening with dependable regularity. |
| 43. | Linear | Proceeding in a straight progression. |
| 44. | Mechanical | Automatic; without variation. |
| 45. | Methodical | Done in a fixed order. |
| 46. | Monotonous | Tediously repetitive. |
| 47. | More of the same | No change from before. |
| 48. | Mundane | Ordinary; lacking interest. |
| 49. | No surprises | Nothing unexpected occurs. |
| 50. | No-brainer | Obvious; easy to foresee. |
| 51. | Old hat | Familiar from overuse. |
| 52. | On a set track | Following a fixed course. |
| 53. | On autopilot | Done automatically; unthinking. |
| 54. | One-note | Having little variation. |
| 55. | Paint-by-numbers | Overly guided; unoriginal. |
| 56. | Patterned | Following a repeated design. |
| 57. | Pedestrian | Dull; unimaginative. |
| 58. | Prearranged | Planned beforehand. |
| 59. | Precedented | Already established by prior cases. |
| 60. | Precharted | Mapped out in advance. |
| 61. | Preconceived | Formed beforehand; not new. |
| 62. | Prefigured | Indicated in advance. |
| 63. | Premeditated | Planned before acting. |
| 64. | Prescripted | Written and fixed beforehand. |
| 65. | Preset | Set beforehand; not adjustable. |
| 66. | Programmed | Designed to follow set steps. |
| 67. | Prosaic | Plain; lacking imagination. |
| 68. | Routine | Regular and repeated. |
| 69. | Run-of-the-mill | Average; not distinctive. |
| 70. | Same old story | Repetition of familiar events. |
| 71. | Same song, different verse | Superficially changed; essentially same. |
| 72. | Scripted | Planned and rehearsed. |
| 73. | Stale | No longer fresh or interesting. |
| 74. | Standard | Typical; commonly used. |
| 75. | Standard-issue | Mass-produced; typical. |
| 76. | Stock | Ready-made; conventional. |
| 77. | Stodgy | Dull; overly conventional. |
| 78. | Straightforward | Simple and unsurprising. |
| 79. | Telegraphed | Too obvious beforehand. |
| 80. | Textbook | Typical; as expected. |
| 81. | Timeworn | Worn by overuse. |
| 82. | Tired | Overused; lacking novelty. |
| 83. | To a T | Exactly as expected. |
| 84. | Trite | Overfamiliar; unoriginal. |
| 85. | Unchanging | Not varying over time. |
| 86. | Unexciting | Not thrilling; routine. |
| 87. | Uniform | Same throughout; consistent. |
| 88. | Unoriginal | Not new; derivative. |
| 89. | Unremarkable | Not notable; ordinary. |
| 90. | Unsurprising | Not unexpected. |
| 91. | Venerable | Long-established; familiar. |
| 92. | Well-trodden | Frequently used; familiar path. |
| 93. | Well-worn | Overused; familiar. |
| 94. | What you’d expect | Exactly as anticipated. |
| 95. | Workaday | Ordinary; everyday routine. |
| 96. | Written in stone | Fixed; not likely to change. |
| 97. | Xeroxed | Copied; lacking originality. |
| 98. | Yawn-inducing | So dull it’s boring. |
| 99. | Yet another | Just one more of the same. |
| 100. | Zeitgeisty | In line with current trends. |