cliche

[klee-shey, kli-] / kliˈʃeɪ, klɪ- /

NOUN

overused, hackneyed phrase

Synonyms

WEAK

adage banality boiler plate bromide buzzword chestnut commonplace corn counterword familiar tune motto old story platitude potboiler prosaism proverb rubber stamp saying shibboleth slogan stale saying stereotype threadbare phrase trite remark triteness triviality truism vapid expression

cliché

NOUN

overused, hackneyed phrase

Synonyms

WEAK

adage banality boiler plate bromide buzzword chestnut commonplace corn counterword familiar tune motto old story platitude potboiler prosaism proverb saying shibboleth slogan stale saying stereotype threadbare phrase trite remark triteness triviality truism vapid expression

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“It sounds cliche, but the walls between our communities literally burned to the ground,” Bernstein said.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

The cliche, 'anybody can beat anybody' in the Premier League is closer to the truth than in La Liga or the Bundesliga.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

I'm 50, and this is not a rehearsal, as cliche as that sounds.

From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026

In the 2020 miniseries “Hollywood,” Ryan Murphy’s alternate history of the 1930s picture business, the studio head he plays is not the desk-banger of cliche, but he is a man with an appetite.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

And she didn’t even care if that was a cliche.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

Vocabulary lists containing cliche

Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Introductory

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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 2

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Reading: Literature - Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Middle School

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