as in cliché
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
a screenplay that reads like a catalog of mystery-thriller tropes the narrative trope of two rival characters falling in love by the end of the story
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of trope
Last month, in a radio interview on LAist, Hilton revived the creaky welfare queen trope.
—
Robin Abcarian, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
The fact that the update on the age-old Monkeypaw trope is so consistently surprising and compelling is a testament to Curry Barker.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 14 May 2026
Good meaning one where the writer is not shackled to Hollywood tropes.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 12 May 2026
Enrolling genre or genre tropes is one way of reaching out to broader global audiences….
—John Hopewell, Variety, 11 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for trope
Robin Abcarian, Mercury News, 14 May 2026
The fact that the update on the age-old Monkeypaw trope is so consistently surprising and compelling is a testament to Curry Barker.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 14 May 2026
Good meaning one where the writer is not shackled to Hollywood tropes.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 12 May 2026
Enrolling genre or genre tropes is one way of reaching out to broader global audiences….
—John Hopewell, Variety, 11 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for trope
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trope
Noun
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His deep arsenal gives him a chance to handle a truism of the craft.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
8 May 2026
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Ever since, intelligence officers have ruefully invoked that truism whenever they’re blamed for a major screwup.—
Shane Harris,
The Atlantic,
5 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Or is this commonplace in NBA transactions?—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
3 May 2026
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In the early 2000s, Sears began to use its website — the new iteration of its catalog — to help pioneer the now-commonplace practices of buying goods online and picking them up in store.—
Domenica Bongiovanni,
USA Today,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Taiwan Beneath all the platitudes, there are still some simmering tensions.—
Selina Wang,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
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The lyrics—elsewhere evocative—wilt dramatically, a slurry of platitudes.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trope.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trope. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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