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cliché — meaning in English

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English meaning

  • cliché noun A phrase or idea that has been used so often it no longer has any force or freshness.
  • stereotype noun An oversimplified, fixed idea about a whole group of people, often unfair or inaccurate.

Senses

cliché is used for these senses in English:

  • cliché (rhetoric) Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude. [from 19th c.]
  • stereotype (printing) A metal printing plate cast from a matrix moulded from a raised printing surface.

cliché — full definition

  1. noun A phrase or idea that has been used so often it no longer has any force or freshness.
  2. noun A situation, character or feature so predictable that it feels stale.
  3. adjective So overused as to have lost its impact. Often written clichéd.

stereotype — full definition

  1. noun An oversimplified, fixed idea about a whole group of people, often unfair or inaccurate.
  2. verb To judge or portray someone based on an oversimplified idea of the group they belong to, rather than as an individual.

Related French words