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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Recent Examples of trope
In the modern day, people who have wielded racist tropes against Black people, including the ape comparison, have faced swift social backlash and loss of employment.
—
Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
And while his opponents have drawn on Islamophobic tropes in the closing days of the race to shrink his wide lead in the polls, Muslim New Yorkers told USA TODAY that his candidacy signals a historic point for a community often far from the city's halls of power.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
The trope of male loneliness is a common one, whether played for comedic effect, analyzed for its debilitating impact on society, or both.
—Justin Williams, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
But Interview With the Vampire set a precedent for transformative TV from the Immortal Universe, its narrative and visual audacity subverting adaptation tropes and genre storytelling by challenging viewers’ notions of immortality, sexuality, and destiny.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trope
Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Oct. 2025
And while his opponents have drawn on Islamophobic tropes in the closing days of the race to shrink his wide lead in the polls, Muslim New Yorkers told USA TODAY that his candidacy signals a historic point for a community often far from the city's halls of power.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
The trope of male loneliness is a common one, whether played for comedic effect, analyzed for its debilitating impact on society, or both.
—Justin Williams, New York Times, 26 Oct. 2025
But Interview With the Vampire set a precedent for transformative TV from the Immortal Universe, its narrative and visual audacity subverting adaptation tropes and genre storytelling by challenging viewers’ notions of immortality, sexuality, and destiny.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trope
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trope
Noun
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But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
15 Oct. 2025
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One ironclad truism about sports is that all streaks eventually come to an end.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Ion gauges are relatively cheap (under US $1,000) and commonplace.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
24 Sep. 2025
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The fact of death: what a commonplace, what a banal place to land.—
Garth Greenwell,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
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This is now a political war that has escalated far beyond the ethical platitudes some use to argue against Proposition 50.—
Marc Lampe,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Oct. 2025
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Continue reading … BLIND LOYALTY – Karine Jean-Pierre has rocky rollout for book as reviews pan Biden defense, platitudes.—
,
FOXNews.com,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trope.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trope. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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