cliché
UK /ˈkliː.ʃeɪ/ · US /kliˈʃeɪ/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms clichés clichéing clichéd clichéed
- noun (rhetoric) Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude. “The villain kidnapping the love interest is a bit of a cliché.”
- noun (printing) A stereotype (printing plate).
- adjective (sometimes proscribed) Clichéd; having the characteristics of a cliché.
- verb (ambitransitive) To use a cliché; to make up a word or a name that sounds like a cliché.
Synonyms
convention platitude stereotype trope byword saying adage saw proverb maxim apothegm apophthegm dictum gnome gnomic saying mantra paroemia banality commonplace bromide
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French cliché.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A stereotype plate or any similar reproduction of ornament, or lettering, in relief. Cliché casting, a mode of obtaining an impression from a die or woodcut, or the like, by striking it suddenly upon metal which has been fused and is just becoming solid; also, the casting so obtained.
Etymology [F. cliché, from clicher to stereotype.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cliché”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details