as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull
it's hackneyed, but true—the more you save the more you earn
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in exhausted
to use so much as to make less appealing
advertisers have hackneyed the word "revolutionary" so much that it now just means that a product is new
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hackneyed
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
16 Dec. 2025
Unfortunately though, Cooper can’t escape certain hackneyed biopic tropes in representing the songwriting, which are almost impossible to avoid.
—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
The story revolves around this character in ways that feel hackneyed and forced.
—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Trauma is not a hackneyed literary trope in the work of Miriam Toews.
—
Lorrie Moore,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hackneyed
Adjective
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.
—
Will Leitch,
Vulture,
16 Dec. 2025
Unfortunately though, Cooper can’t escape certain hackneyed biopic tropes in representing the songwriting, which are almost impossible to avoid.
—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
The story revolves around this character in ways that feel hackneyed and forced.
—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Trauma is not a hackneyed literary trope in the work of Miriam Toews.
—
Lorrie Moore,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hackneyed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hackneyed
Adjective
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This is a directed, stereotyped behavior in which the highest-resolution region of the somatosensory surface is brought to bear on the object requiring the most detailed analysis.
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Latinos are a fundamental part of American history and culture, and one of the largest communities in the United States, yet their presence in Hollywood has long been limited, stereotyped, or overlooked.
Verb
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In the finals, Israel faced an Australian team already exhausted after fending off South Korea, Japan and Rhodesia (itself in the Asian tournament after being banned in Africa over its white governing regime).
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For years, people have been frustrated and exhausted by the seemingly endless amount of swiping and small talk that go nowhere on dating apps.
Adjective
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Depredation occurs when a shark steals an angler’s catch off their line, and Florida’s fishers are tired of it.
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Pugh is tired of seeing her mom suffer by no fault of her own.
Verb
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Although the word ‘hero’ is greatly overused in today’s society, in my mind, Calvin Duncan is a hero in the truest sense of that word.
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Meanwhile, existing antibiotics have been overused, and resistance has mounted to critical levels.
Adjective
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Using ChatGPT, Gemini, and other artificial intelligence platforms to make everyday decisions has become commonplace.
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When spreadsheets became commonplace, companies did not hire fewer finance professionals.
Verb
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For anyone bored by the shallow thinking of podcasts, here are real depths.
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He’s been bored of this war for a while, and in the West Wing, there was a race to be done with it.
Adjective
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There is no cultural ethnic pandering, no consideration to what, in this context, would have been a trite idea of diversity and inclusion.
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But Hacks never really engaged with the complexity of those disclosures, and by Kathy’s brief appearance this final season, she’s smoothed out into a trite obstacle in Ava’s quest to reboot Deborah’s old sitcom.
Verb
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They can get dehydrated and overexposed to the sun and are unable to cool down.
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The background appears splotchy and overexposed, but to my dismay, the selfie camera did not miss my messy eyebrows or the minor imperfections on my skin.
Cite this Entry
“Hackneyed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hackneyed. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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