noun

cliché

KLEE-shay

Cliché (noun) means a phrase or idea that has been used so often it no longer has any force or freshness. Example: “The speech was a string of clichés about journeys and rollercoasters.”

noun

A phrase or idea that has been used so often it no longer has any force or freshness.

"The speech was a string of clichés about journeys and rollercoasters."

"Avoid the cliché that lightning never strikes twice."

A situation, character or feature so predictable that it feels stale.

"The plot leaned on every romantic comedy cliché going."

"Living on instant noodles is a student cliché for a reason."

adjective

informal in the unsuffixed form So overused as to have lost its impact. Often written clichéd.

"The ending was cliché and predictable."

"A clichéd opening line can lose the reader immediately."

How to Use Cliché

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishSomething said so many times before that it has stopped meaning much.

When to use it

The accent is usually kept in careful writing but cliche is widely accepted; the adjective clichéd is safer in formal prose than bare cliché.

Memory tip

The plural is clichés, with an s and no apostrophe.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

clichéd stereotype → idiom → trope →

Common pairings

a tired cliché avoid clichés the old cliché that clichéd dialogue become a cliché

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

The speech was a string of _____ about journeys and rollercoasters.

Etymology

From French cliché, the past participle of clicher, a printing term for making a stereotype plate; a phrase reused unchanged was likened to a fixed printing block.

Origin: French

Synonyms

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platitude stock phrase truism banality hackneyed expression stereotype trope convention hackneyed trite stale tired

Antonyms

original expression

Related Words

law conference agreement sweet congress Assembly tired weak

Rhymes for cliché

ich rich Mich which

See all rhymes for cliché →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a cliché and an idiom?

An idiom is a fixed expression whose meaning is not obvious from its words, such as kick the bucket, and it is not automatically a fault. A cliché is any expression, idiomatic or not, that has been worn out by overuse. Some idioms are clichés; many are not.

Is it cliché or clichéd?

Traditionally cliché is the noun and clichéd the adjective, so the line was clichéd. Using cliché as an adjective is now very common in speech but still looks informal in edited writing.

Why is cliché a printing word?

In French printing, a cliché was a metal plate cast to reproduce the same block of type again and again. The image of endless identical copies transferred neatly to language.

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