as in bromide
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
An op-ed piece that offers nothing but warmed-over chestnuts for solving the city's financial woes.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chestnut
Noun
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Other testing by the state’s environmental quality department found elevated levels of heavy metals commonly found in oil field wastewater including barium and bromide.—
Nick Bowlin,
ProPublica,
18 May 2026 -
The bromide invites teachers to underestimate their students.—
Steven F. Wilson,
The Atlantic,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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What does the phrase squeaky bum time, the racehorse Devon Loch, and the Portuguese proverb ‘morrer na prais’ all have in common?—
Ian Irving,
New York Times,
28 Feb. 2026
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The rooms The old Japanese proverb ‘*kachou fuugetsu’—*which translates as ‘flower, bird, wind, moon’ evoking a sense of the transient beauty of nature—is a key concept at the hotel.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Some, but not all, of those tropes are present in Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s behind-the-scenes drama The Beloved (El Ser Querido), which manages to add a few welcome twists to the formula.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
16 May 2026
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The highlight, taking over most of the gallery space on 19th Street, is new paintings by Lisa Yuskavage, a brilliant inversion of the studio painting trope, looking as potent as anything she’s ever made.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
15 May 2026
Noun
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His deep arsenal gives him a chance to handle a truism of the craft.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
8 May 2026
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Ever since, intelligence officers have ruefully invoked that truism whenever they’re blamed for a major screwup.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Taiwan Beneath all the platitudes, there are still some simmering tensions.—
Selina Wang,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
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The lyrics—elsewhere evocative—wilt dramatically, a slurry of platitudes.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In the last few decades, that swagger seems to have collapsed under the weight of a tepid banality.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
8 Apr. 2026
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One effect of this austerity and repression is to focus attention on Albee’s language, with its slippery banalities and barbs.—
Steven Winn,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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What’s that famous saying about hell hath no fury?—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
16 May 2026
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Sets come in half-dozens and include designs like a soccer ball, a flag, celebratory sayings in the language and a jersey, according to its website.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee
May 15,
Kansas City Star,
15 May 2026
Noun
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But a new shibboleth has seized the day.—
Bruce Stockler,
Fortune,
5 Apr. 2026
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The director scores easy laughs off of modern-day progressive shibboleths such as gender-fluid pronouns, trigger warnings and Native American land acknowledgments.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Houston Chronicle,
25 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Chestnut.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chestnut. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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