bland vs sterile

bland

adj
  • Lacking interest; boring; dull. 

  • Lacking in vigor. 

  • bland comment 

  • Lacking in taste or flavor. 

  • Having a soothing effect; not irritating or stimulating. 

noun
  • Mixture; union. 

  • A summer beverage prepared from the whey of churned milk, common among the inhabitants of the Shetland Islands. 

verb
  • To mix; blend; mingle. 

  • To connect; associate. 

sterile

adj
  • Terse; lacking sentiment or emotional stimulation, as in a manner of speaking. 

  • Fruitless, uninspiring, or unproductive. 

  • Unable to reproduce (or procreate). 

  • Of weapons: foreign-made and untraceable to the United States. 

  • Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms. 

  • Free from dangerous objects, as a zone in an airport that can be only be entered via a security checkpoint. 

How often have the words bland and sterile occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )