as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull
the film's clichéd story of an underdog who overcomes insurmountable odds to win
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Recent Examples of clichéd
It’s cliched to say, yes, but the image of the two of them, lying next to each other in the dark coal mine with the twinkles of the coal dust, lying there in the night sky.
—
David Opie, IndieWire, 26 Mar. 2025
Key steers away from turning Charles into a cliched, overly cute caricature.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2025
To go beyond cliched surveys, brands should engage with customers directly via social media, community forums and one-on-one calls to gather vital qualitative insights.
—Rob Lancit, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Despite his character's cliched traits — a witty, street-wise cop who plays by his own rules — Weathers steals the show with his acting chops and stunning physique.
—Joe Guillen, Axios, 7 Mar. 2025
On the show, Julian’s father Senior (Beau Bridges) is the head of their firm, making his son’s claim to partner possibly cliched but strong.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 31 Jan. 2025
Ageism shows up, for example, in some commercials, with the cliched generational put-downs.
—Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2025
Set in a terminal at Newark Airport during the holiday rush, the sketch plays as a Christmas pageant of all the most cliched airport behavior, from taking your weed edible too early and in too high a dose to the couple disagreeing over joining the mile high club.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 22 Dec. 2024
In the new Hulu show Interior Chinatown, a background actor trapped playing different cliched Asian characters on a police procedural gets involved in Chinatown’s crime scene.
—Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Dec. 2024
David Opie, IndieWire, 26 Mar. 2025
Key steers away from turning Charles into a cliched, overly cute caricature.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2025
To go beyond cliched surveys, brands should engage with customers directly via social media, community forums and one-on-one calls to gather vital qualitative insights.
—Rob Lancit, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
Despite his character's cliched traits — a witty, street-wise cop who plays by his own rules — Weathers steals the show with his acting chops and stunning physique.
—Joe Guillen, Axios, 7 Mar. 2025
On the show, Julian’s father Senior (Beau Bridges) is the head of their firm, making his son’s claim to partner possibly cliched but strong.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 31 Jan. 2025
Ageism shows up, for example, in some commercials, with the cliched generational put-downs.
—Chicago Tribune, 8 Feb. 2025
Set in a terminal at Newark Airport during the holiday rush, the sketch plays as a Christmas pageant of all the most cliched airport behavior, from taking your weed edible too early and in too high a dose to the couple disagreeing over joining the mile high club.
—Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 22 Dec. 2024
In the new Hulu show Interior Chinatown, a background actor trapped playing different cliched Asian characters on a police procedural gets involved in Chinatown’s crime scene.
—Kaitlin Menza, Condé Nast Traveler, 3 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for clichéd
Adjective
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Their negative stereotyped reputation seems to follow them like ageism follows older employees or sexism follows female employees.—
Bryan Robinson,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
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At the time, Latinos were often cast in stereotyped roles with heavy accents and largely denied the opportunity to direct features.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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But people here are tired of seeing Farmington in the headlines as a town that's losing population.—
Kirk Siegler,
NPR,
24 Apr. 2025
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And there’s kids who are tired, or crying or can’t handle it.—
Andy Mitten,
New York Times,
22 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The movie’s a little more hackneyed and obvious now, but its central idea is still an undeniably creepy one: possessed children with pitchforks.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
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Which is a nauseatingly hackneyed and clichéd — not to mention stupefyingly reductive — type of statement to make about any kind of art or entertainment, of course.—
Andrew Unterberger,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2019
Adjective
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When the first Last of Us game debuted in 2013, zombie fiction was already trite and exhausting, but the game still succeeded by virtue of being a technical marvel that also focused squarely on its characters.—
Joshua Rivera,
Vulture,
21 Apr. 2025
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The Liberal Party ad played up many trite but true Canadian stereotypes and jokes that are not going to cut it during this sobering election campaign.—
Paula Newton,
CNN,
23 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Clichéd.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clich%C3%A9d. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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