pedestrian
pedestrian Lexical Profile
pedestrian Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to, intended for, or accomplished by walking on foot rather than traveling in a vehicle.
"The city council voted to convert the busy shopping street into a pedestrian zone."
Lacking inspiration, excitement, or originality; dull and commonplace.
"Critics dismissed his latest novel for its predictable plot and pedestrian prose."
• noun
A person walking along a road or in a developed area rather than traveling in a vehicle.
"Drivers must always yield the right of way to pedestrians in marked crosswalks."
• Rhymes for pedestrian
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 18th century via French pédestrien or directly from Latin pedester ('going on foot'), derived from pes ('foot') and modeled on the suffix of 'equestrian'. The figurative sense of 'dull or commonplace' emerged from the contrast between plain prose ('walking' language) and elevated poetry ('mounted' on Pegasus).