catch phrase

or catchphrase

noun

1. a phrase that attracts or is meant to attract attention.
2. a phrase, as a slogan, that comes to be widely and repeatedly used, often with little of the original meaning remaining.

catch phrase

noun

1. a well-known frequently used phrase, esp one associated with a particular group, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of catch phrase¹

First recorded in 1840–50; catch(word) + phrase

Example Sentences

The catch phrase, which Reagan borrowed from a Russian proverb, was “trust but verify.”

From The Daily Beast

For those wondering, this vanishing middle ground is where the book gets its catch-phrase title.

From The Daily Beast

I wish Paul had given education reform a rationale instead of the catch phrase 'civil rights'.

From The Daily Beast

Gunn lovingly confronted Rice about the joke, and a new Project Runway catch phrase was born: what happened to Andrae?

From The Daily Beast

I guess the media and the politicians need a quick catch phrase to go by.

From The Daily Beast

I recognized the latter words as the catch phrase of a moral story in an ancient reader used in my boyhood school days.

From Project Gutenberg

The same immunity was accorded to the insertion (inspired by Clowes, as usual) of a popular catch phrase in the last few lines.

From Project Gutenberg

Let us hear no more that deceptive catch phrase, "If you want peace prepare for war."

From Project Gutenberg

A third (and more intelligible) suggestion is that the line is simply a catch phrase, without any meaning.

From Project Gutenberg

That is a nice catch phrase to use in a speech or article but operating within the law has not interfered with our work.

From Project Gutenberg