- applicable or referring to a whole class or group; general
- of, relating to, or belonging to a genus: the generic name
- denoting the nonproprietary name of a drug, food product, etc
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ge•ner•ic /dʒəˈnɛrɪk/USA pronunciation
adj.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Biologyof, relating to, or applying to all the members of a class, group, or kind:a trait that is generic to humanity.
- Biologyof, relating to, or making up a genus.
- Grammar(of a word) that may apply to, or refer to, both men and women:A generic pronoun is "their.''
- not protected by trademark registration:prescribed a generic drug.
ge•ner•ic
( jə ner′ik),USA pronunciation adj. Also, ge•ner′i•cal.
n.
ge•ner′i•cal•ly, adv.
ge•ner′i•cal•ness, n.
- Biologyof, applicable to, or referring to all the members of a genus, class, group, or kind;
general. - Biologyof, pertaining to, or noting a genus, esp. in biology.
- Grammar(of a word) applicable or referring to both men and women:a generic pronoun.
- not protected by trademark registration:"Cola'' and "shuttle'' are generic terms.
n.
- a generic term.
- Drugsany product, as a type of food, drug, or cosmetic commonly marketed under a brand name, that is sold in a package without a brand.
- Winea wine made from two or more varieties of grapes, with no one grape constituting more than half the product (distinguished from varietal).
- Latin gener- (see gender1) + -ic
- 1670–80
ge•ner′i•cal•ness, n.
- 4. general, nonproprietary, unrestricted.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
generic /dʒɪˈnɛrɪk/, generical adj
'generic' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Afrobeats
- tautonym
- Ahura
- -bacter
- bigeneric
- billy
- binomial
- binomial nomenclature
- bobby dazzler
- chairperson
- clyde
- congeneric
- cuddy
- dick
- dickey
- doll
- Geordie
- gill
- he
- intergeneric
- jane
- jenny
- jill
- jimmy
- Jock Scot
- john
- julienne
- karst
- kelly
- lulu
- man
- martin
- MC
- merry-andrew
- Mick
- naled
- neddy
- ninny
- ninon
- no-name
- nylon
- palace
- person
- peter
- Podunk
- polly
- popsy
- rube
- they
- toby