cliché

or cli·che

[ klee-shey, kli- ]

noun

1. a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse, as sadder but wiser, or strong as an ox.

   Synonyms: commonplace, stereotype, bromide, platitude

2. (in art, literature, drama, etc.) a trite or hackneyed plot, character development, use of color, musical expression, etc.
3. anything that has become trite or commonplace through overuse.
4. British Printing.
   1. a stereotype or electrotype plate.
   2. a reproduction made in a like manner.

adjective

1. trite; hackneyed; stereotyped; clichéd.

cliché

/ ˈkliːʃeɪ /

noun

1. a word or expression that has lost much of its force through overexposure, as for example the phrase

   it's got to get worse before it gets better

2. an idea, action, or habit that has become trite from overuse
3. printing a stereotype or electrotype plate

cliché

1. A much used expression that has lost its freshness and descriptive power. Some clichés are “I thank you from the bottom of my heart” and “It's only a drop in the bucket.”

Derived Forms

• ˈclichéd, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cliché¹

First recorded in 1825–35; from French: “stereotype plate, stencil,” noun use of past participle of clicher “to make a stereotype plate,” said to be imitative of the sound of the metal pressed against the matrix

Word History and Origins

Origin of cliché¹

C19: from French, from clicher to stereotype; imitative of the sound made by the matrix when it is dropped into molten metal

Example Sentences

Spiritual gurus who use their power to facilitate sexual encounters with their students are something of a cliché.

From The Daily Beast

I hate to use such a tired cliché, but it does feel like the more things change, the more they stay the same.

From The Daily Beast

However, hard though it may be to write about love in a non-cliché way, Dunham sometimes pulls it off.

From The Daily Beast

He presumably felt he owed it to himself to make one more visit to hell and report back with a cliché-busting dispatch.

From The Daily Beast

“When we first came up with the idea, we were wondering if it was too cliché,” Carter says.

From The Daily Beast

I don't want to go back into my life, I don't want to trot out the old 'more sinned against than sinning' cliché.

From Project Gutenberg

A word whose customary feeling-tone is too unquestioningly accepted becomes a plushy bit of furniture, a cliché.

From Project Gutenberg

We are so familiar with the venerable cliché that we can but wonder at its gift of eternal youth.

From Project Gutenberg

Wilderton listened, and thought: "Dreadfully cliché; why can't someone say straight out that boys enough have been killed?"

From Project Gutenberg

In making up a plate it sometimes happens that a cliché is placed upside down.

From Project Gutenberg