variants
also cliche
as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull
a cliché tale of lust and betrayal among the fabulously rich
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
variants
also cliche
as in generalization
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
try to write a love story without resorting to well-worn clichés
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cliché
Matt Donnelly, Variety, 14 Jan. 2026
The best songs use Natanya’s dense web of ideas to reflect on opaque emotions that stubbornly refuse to be reduced to cliche.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 13 Jan. 2026
Guttural noises aside, Romo was also called out for his use of cliches and what some said were obvious calls.
—Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 12 Jan. 2026
Their love scene in the rain, while obviously less visually spectacular than in the film, plunges headlong into romantic cliches that manage to get the job done despite their obviousness.
—Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2026
What sports or politics cliche resonates the most with you?
—Dominick Mastrangelo, The Hill, 22 Dec. 2025
People want stories — that’s a cliche for a reason.
—Julian Sancton, HollywoodReporter, 22 Dec. 2025
Along with the small-town cliche of secrets abounding, there are fresh touches that add whimsy to this story of two families entwined through times of peace and war.
—The Know, Denver Post, 21 Dec. 2025
For an attorney’s brand to really stand out in the marketplace, their billboard has to go beyond old cliches.
—Adam M. Rosen, thehustle.co, 12 Dec. 2025
Noun
Never work with kids or animals, the Hollywood cliche goes.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for cliché
Adjective
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Later, Lenape artist Joe Baker places cutout photographs of his ancestors over the stereotyped images of Native Americans found in the wallpaper.—
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Several leaders described the pressure of being both highly visible and easily stereotyped.—
Noun
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Mentee’s progress in vision-language-action models, large-scale simulation, and advanced Sim2Real transfer directly complements Mobileye’s autonomy platform, improving generalization, accelerating development, and enabling faster adaptation to new environments.—
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Some dementia cases may have been missed, and the results are from a Swedish population, which may limit generalization.—
Adjective
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That includes fewer tired drivers on overnight routes, more predictable freight movement and potentially safer highways over time.—
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The tired hosts will be delighted.—
Noun
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Eritrea had trounced Zanzibar to reach the semi-finals of the CECAFA Under-20 Championship — consisting of national teams from east and central African nations — when, amid the celebrations and platitudes from government officials back home, the players made their move.—
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On one hand, the platitudes of traditional sportsbook operators fracturing under a droplet of business pressure reflects how the world works.—
Adjective
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This is actually better than some of the hackneyed rom-coms Reiner muddled through, a coming-of-age story about two kids’ pseudo-love story from grade school through middle school.—
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On the first real mission in the jungle region of Fury Green, Samus encounters a Galactic Federation technician named Myles Mackenzie who, from his reveal in the pre-release previews, became a sticking point for fans due to his hackneyed sidekick trappings.—
Noun
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Warfare Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.—
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Kemp does warn his readers to be skeptical of truisms about the nature of history and the odds of apocalypse.—
Noun
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There is so much pleasure to be had in rereading old favorites—and part of the joy is meeting beloved characters, who have been updated or somehow arrive in a new form to resist old tropes and types.—
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The other one that happens to me more regularly is seeing common tropes or scenarios from the media and tipping them just slightly on their side.—
Adjective
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Contrary to rumors of mass protests, the gathering of citizens (a commonplace sight at crucial legislative periods), was unobtrusive and orderly.—
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Bodyboarders and surfers haven’t historically gotten along, especially in the ’80s, when conflicts in the water were commonplace.—
Cite this Entry
“Cliché.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clich%C3%A9. Accessed 20 Jan. 2026.
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