- Archaic a stereotype printing plate
- an expression or idea that has become trite
Origin of cliché
French from clicher, to stereotype from German klitsch, clump, claylike mass (hence, origin, originally , to pattern in clay)
noun
The definition of a cliché is an often repeated or used phrase or statement that has been used so much it has become trite and kind of meaningless.
An example of a cliché is the expression of "walk a mile in another's shoes."
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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cliché
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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cliche
also cli·che
noun
- A trite or overused expression or idea: “Even while the phrase was degenerating to cliché in ordinary public use … scholars were giving it increasing attention” ( Anthony Brandt )
- A person or character whose behavior is predictable or superficial: “There is a young explorer … who turns out not to be quite the cliche expected” ( John Crowley )
adjective
Usage Problem Clichéd.
Origin of cliche
French past participle of clicher to stereotype (imitative of the sound made when the matrix is dropped into molten metal to make a stereotype plate)Usage Note: The use of cliché as an adjective meaning “clichéd” goes back to the 1950s. Nonetheless, this usage is traditionally considered improper, and the majority of the Usage Panel agrees with that assessment. In 2011, 79% of the Panel considered the sentence It would sound very cliché to say he died as he lived, helping people to be unacceptable. About a fifth of the Panelists, however, found this usage either somewhat or completely acceptable. As is the case with most nouns, the use of cliché in compounds, such as cliché-ridden, meaning “full of clichés,” is perfectly acceptable. The use of cliché as an adjective is alluring because English has borrowed some é -final adjectives from French participles, such as passé and recherché . Because the overwhelming use of cliché is as a noun, however, the English adjective was originally formed directly from that noun by adding -d, the same process that gives us words such as barefaced, single-spaced, and fated.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Cliché." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Cliche.
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Cliché. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cliche
cliché
clichébromide commonplace platitude truism
These nouns denote an expression or idea that has lost its originality or force through overuse: a short story weakened by clichés; the old bromide that we are what we eat; uttered the commonplace “welcome aboard”; a eulogy full of platitudes; a once-original thought that has become a truism.
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"Cliché." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Cliche.
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Cliché. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cliche
Noun
(plural clichés)
- 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.]
- Kidnapping the love interest during a film is a bit of a cliché.
- (printing) A stereotype (printing plate).
Usage notes
- The alternative spelling cliche may be used without confusion, as there is no other word in English with this spelling. (Contrast résumé, resumé.)
Noun
See also: cliche- Informal form of cliché.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"Cliché." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Cliche.
APA Style
Cliché. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Cliche
