adjective

conventional

kun-VEN-shuh-nul/kənˈvenʃənl/

Following established standard practices.

The couple follows a conventional wedding ceremony in formal clothes.

A couple and guests at a traditional civil wedding, dark formal suits and white dress, following familiar ceremony; white woman and East Asian man, restrained setting.

Etymology

conLatintogether

+ventLatinto come

+ionLatinaction or process

+alLatinpertaining to

Coming together also carried the sense of reaching agreement. Conventional shifted from pertaining to an agreement to describing what social custom establishes, hence behavior or methods that follow accepted standards.

In context

The Buried Archive39:38

The third step if pressing continues is reframing where the evidence is accepted as real but the challenging interpretation is rejected and a more conventional one is proposed

The Ancient Tool Found in a Michigan Copper Pit — The Ojibwe Said It Was Left Behind

More examples

Conventional treatments do not work for every patient.
Her latest design is more conventional than her earlier work.
The army relies on conventional weapons rather than nuclear arms.

Forms

conventional · more conventional · most conventional

convention noun — An established custom or accepted practice.

conventionally adverb — In a way that follows accepted practices.

Similar words

traditional: Emphasizes customs passed down over time, not simply accepted methods.
standard: Emphasizes an accepted model or specification rather than customary behavior.
orthodox: Emphasizes strict adherence to established beliefs, doctrines, or methods.