pedestrian

Pluralpedestrians

1. 1
   person on footnouncountable

   A person who walks or travels on foot, especially in contrast to someone using a vehicle.

   Pedestrians on the sidewalk jeered as the motorcade crawled past.

   A pedestrian was hit by a delivery van that ran a red light.

   Similarwalker

   Oppositemotorist

2. 2
   for foot trafficadjective

   Relating to people who are walking, or intended for their use.

   Pedestrian traffic along the waterfront doubles during the summer festival.

   The council voted to close three downtown blocks to cars and turn them into a pedestrian zone.

   Oppositevehicular

   Note

   The literal sense comes straight from Latin: English borrowed pedester, from pedes, and added the adjective suffix -an to its stem pedestri-. It does its work in front of a noun, marking what is built or set aside for people on foot: a pedestrian crossing, a pedestrian zone, all-weather pedestrian transportation. Here it is a plain label of purpose, with no judgment in it.

3. 3
   dulladjectivefiguratively

   Ordinary and dull, lacking anything that would make it stand out from the everyday.

   Critics liked the lead actor but found the script pedestrian.

   After scoring early, the visitors settled into a more pedestrian game and let their lead slip away.

   Similarcommonplace, banal, everyday, routine, average

   Oppositeexciting, inspired, imaginative, original

   Note

   Here the word turns figurative and takes degrees, as the walkway sense does not: a more pedestrian script, the most pedestrian prose. It is a verdict rather than a neutral description, and a concession can soften it, as in dress that is pedestrian but tidy. It fits performances as well as writing: a team pressed into submission can be made to look pedestrian.

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