variants
also cliches
as in tropes
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
try to write a love story without resorting to well-worn clichés
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of clichés
The Western is sort of stoked with a forge full of cliches.
—
Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 12 Feb. 2026
The cliches of Hollywood endings notwithstanding, Cumming is happy and at peace.
—Jonathan Borge, InStyle, 29 Jan. 2026
So, as media day unfolded Saturday, the coach offered a flow of cliches and sayings.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 17 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
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
The first scene with Mackenzie has Samus rescuing him from a horde of aliens, followed quickly by an escort mission — one of the most agonizing cliches in gaming.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2025
The drama veers from the usual sports-movie cliches by exploring mental health and eating disorders with a dose of psychological horror.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 12 Feb. 2026
The cliches of Hollywood endings notwithstanding, Cumming is happy and at peace.
—Jonathan Borge, InStyle, 29 Jan. 2026
So, as media day unfolded Saturday, the coach offered a flow of cliches and sayings.
—Noah White, Miami Herald, 17 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
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
The first scene with Mackenzie has Samus rescuing him from a horde of aliens, followed quickly by an escort mission — one of the most agonizing cliches in gaming.
—Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 14 Nov. 2025
The drama veers from the usual sports-movie cliches by exploring mental health and eating disorders with a dose of psychological horror.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clichés
Noun
-
Between jokes about research funding and the scientific questions that might arise upon spotting a fuzzy pink Tyrannosaurus rex on a strange planet, Lemming uses her protagonist, Dory, to poke fun at romance tropes and graduate student woes alike.—
Brianne Kane,
Scientific American,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Originally opened in 2023, Under the Cover sells a variety of romance books in wide variety of spice levels and tropes.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee
February 13,
Kansas City Star,
13 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
They're exhausted by the constant airing of grievances having little to do with what's actually going on in the country, and by the broad generalizations about, well, everything, that ignore context, nuance and facts to promote a political viewpoint.—
Brenda Looper,
Arkansas Online,
11 Feb. 2026
-
At Tuesday’s meeting, the issue hit close to home as South Asian residents challenged generalizations made about their community.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
4 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Many use cases are still being deployed or piloted, and the agency’s AI database is filled with jargon and platitudes that, in many instances, can be interpreted in multiple ways.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Google is famous for dodging questions by reciting platitudes on its calls.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Kemp does warn his readers to be skeptical of truisms about the nature of history and the odds of apocalypse.—
Linda Kinstler,
The Atlantic,
1 Dec. 2025
-
But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
As far back as the Victorian era, exchanging a few banalities was part of a veritable social code—a way of signaling both politeness and boundaries.—
Jeanne Ballion,
Vogue,
27 Dec. 2025
-
Written by Noah Oppenheim, Bigelow’s real-time thriller about the banalities and actualities of a fictional-in-premise-only nuclear attack on the United States is Netflix’s best horse in the race at the Oscars this year.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The female landscape, or woman as map, is often used to portray countries as active, aggressive or supine, depending upon the status of the nation state in relation to war and peace and the stereotypes of a country.—
Melinda Laituri,
The Conversation,
4 Feb. 2026
-
According to its website, the group was founded in 1999 to provide accurate information about Islam to dispel stereotypes and misconceptions.—
Sarah Bahari,
Dallas Morning News,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Despite their clear affection for these women, the Dardenne brothers never sugarcoat their characters’ unenviable circumstance or latch onto phony bromides to alleviate our anxiety.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026
-
There is a reason why the apocalyptic bromides about the state of print haven’t come to fruition, other than for disposable periodicals and newspapers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
One programmer joked that his early sketches of the Goombas looked like chestnuts— kuri in Japanese, which is why Goombas are known in Japan as kuribo.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Nuts Many nuts, including walnuts, pecans, chestnuts, hazelnuts, and almonds, are rich in polyphenols.—
Lindsey DeSoto,
Health,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Clichés.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clich%C3%A9s. Accessed 17 Feb. 2026.
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