cliché

[KatyBr]

cli·ché also cliche (kl-sh)
n.
1. 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.
2. 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.



[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).]
Synonyms: cliché, bromide, 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, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun 1. cliche - a trite or obvious remark
banality, commonplace, platitude, bromide
comment, remark - a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief; "from time to time she contributed a personal comment on his account"
truism - an obvious truth
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cliche

cliche finder
We all know and no doubt love clichés, but much of our life has become cliché without being truth, I've noticed that in movies from the beginning there are few really original ones most are a merre copy or dare I say clichés of each other. It's called genre, but golly, I put on a movie listed as: "an interesting study of southern life in the 1950's... and I find it's just another boring "cat on a hot tin roof/Streetcar/long hot summer, where there is no action except in the 'heads' of the actors(?) characterized by long smoldering looks at each other. Now the cliche movie is swearing dialog, lots of gunfire and gory death, car crashes and theft of ever increasing amounts of money, (YAWN) "How cliché, sigh."

Katy

[anders]

You should avoid clichés like the plague.

[Slava]

I looked, but it appears this word has not had its own treatment yet. I'll suggest it again here.

I am working my way through a book on clichés right now. It is amazing to me what is considered a cliché. Sadly, the author did not provide a definition, so I find myself quibbling with it a lot. It's The Facts on File Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer, should you wish to check it out.