as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
a screenplay that reads like a catalog of mystery-thriller tropes the narrative trope of two rival characters falling in love by the end of the story
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Recent Examples of tropes
Steeped in international cinema, Haghighi has since taken familiar tropes, forms, and genres and bent them in new directions.
—
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Episode 1, for example, comes over as a political thriller with horror tropes where Prime Minister Adolfo Saúrez battles in 1976 to persuade – or bribe – a Francoist parliament to vote itself out of existence.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
Boston and director Weronika Tofilska (who helmed the premiere episode, among others) draw out the gruesome undertones of familiar nuptial tropes with a sly and twisted sense of humor.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 26 Mar. 2026
Pemberton didn’t want the score to feel especially traditional or even particularly Earth-bound, which meant steering clear of the tropes of both orchestral and electronic music.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026
This also allows hard sci-fi writers to breathe new life into tired tropes.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
Writers in this genre (like Christine de Pizan, for example, who is sometimes regarded as one of the first feminist authors) often attacked the misogynistic tropes common in the literature of their own time.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
There's all of these tropes and stereotypes about gender roles and women's roles in particular, especially in Victorian times, that would automatically align women's work as being within the household.
—Mariel Carr, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
But there also are fears that the focus on Israel is the leading edge of an antisemitic fringe that has gained ground by portraying Jews as shadowy manipulators, echoing some of history’s most hateful tropes.
—Thomas Beaumont, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2026
Episode 1, for example, comes over as a political thriller with horror tropes where Prime Minister Adolfo Saúrez battles in 1976 to persuade – or bribe – a Francoist parliament to vote itself out of existence.
—John Hopewell, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
Boston and director Weronika Tofilska (who helmed the premiere episode, among others) draw out the gruesome undertones of familiar nuptial tropes with a sly and twisted sense of humor.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 26 Mar. 2026
Pemberton didn’t want the score to feel especially traditional or even particularly Earth-bound, which meant steering clear of the tropes of both orchestral and electronic music.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 25 Mar. 2026
This also allows hard sci-fi writers to breathe new life into tired tropes.
—Tim Brinkhof, Big Think, 24 Mar. 2026
Writers in this genre (like Christine de Pizan, for example, who is sometimes regarded as one of the first feminist authors) often attacked the misogynistic tropes common in the literature of their own time.
—Chandler Fritz, The New York Review of Books, 21 Mar. 2026
There's all of these tropes and stereotypes about gender roles and women's roles in particular, especially in Victorian times, that would automatically align women's work as being within the household.
—Mariel Carr, Scientific American, 20 Mar. 2026
But there also are fears that the focus on Israel is the leading edge of an antisemitic fringe that has gained ground by portraying Jews as shadowy manipulators, echoing some of history’s most hateful tropes.
—Thomas Beaumont, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tropes
Noun
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The play isn’t subtle; the final sequence leans hard on truisms about addiction and trauma, which are affecting but overly explicit.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
20 Feb. 2026
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One of the truisms in the past for Team Canada at some best-on-best events is needing a few games to find its game.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Countless sayings have likened friends to our most precious commodities—safety, home, even precious metals—for good reason.—
Helen Carefoot,
Flow Space,
31 Mar. 2026
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Blue-and-white minibuses, inscribed with misspelt movie quotes and popular local sayings, snaked through the congestion on the narrow road in front of them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But for UConn, the platitudes feel profoundly honest.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2026
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Donovan reiterated a series of platitudes that haven’t changed during his time with the Bulls.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tropes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tropes. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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