trope

1 of 2

noun

ˈtrōp 

1

a(1)

: a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech

… declaring humans to be animals is a trope that political leaders … have employed for centuries to rally negative sentiment against other people.

—William Schulz

… he does not worry too much about a turn of phrase, the exact figure of speech, the illuminating trope.

—Newgate Callendar

(2)

: cliché

… the tired trope of Democrats as tax-and-spend liberals.

—Charles M. Blow

In his first Inaugural Address, Jefferson sounded a conciliatory, bipartisan note … that "we are all Republicans, we are all Federalists"—a trope copied in many inaugural addresses to follow.

—Sean Wilentz

"Eat healthy!" is a trope we're all used to hearing—and with good reason.

—Emma Gray

b

: a common theme or device (as in the arts) : motif

the usual horror movie tropes

The enemies-to-lovers trope is one of the best in romance.

—Emily Burack

… the song employs the familiar trope of a young woman with big dreams as she leaves the country for the city …

—Jon Freeman

2

: a phrase or verse added as an embellishment or interpolation to the sung parts of the Mass in the Middle Ages

-trope

2 of 2

noun combining form

: body characterized by (such) a state

allotrope

Synonyms of trope

Noun

• cliché
• truism
• commonplace
• platitude
• chestnut

Examples of trope in a Sentence

Noun

a screenplay that reads like a catalog of mystery-thriller tropes

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In the book, the trope is introduced when Lockwood sleeps in Catherine’s childhood bed and is visited by her girl-ghost wandering the moors, demanding to be let in. —Natasha O'Neill, Vanity Fair, 13 Feb. 2026

Between jokes about research funding and the scientific questions that might arise upon spotting a fuzzy pink Tyrannosaurus rex on a strange planet, Lemming uses her protagonist, Dory, to poke fun at romance tropes and graduate student woes alike. —Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 13 Feb. 2026

Originally opened in 2023, Under the Cover sells a variety of romance books in wide variety of spice levels and tropes. —Noelle Alviz-Gransee february 13, Kansas City Star, 13 Feb. 2026

The actor who plays himself is an age-old trope. —Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Latin tropus "figure of speech" (Medieval Latin, "embellishment to the sung parts of the Mass"), borrowed from Greek trópos "turn, way, manner, style, figurative expression," noun derivative from the base of trépein "to turn," probably going back to Indo-European *trep-, whence also Sanskrit trapate "(s/he) is ashamed, becomes perplexed," Hittite te-ri-ip-zi "(s/he) ploughs"

Note: Also compared is Latin trepit, glossed as vertit "(s/he) turns," but as this form is only attested in the lexicon of the grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus, it may be a reconstruction based on the Greek word. The word tropes (genitive case) in the Old English translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History is an isolated instance; the word was reborrowed from Latin or Greek in the 16th century.

Noun combining form

borrowed from Greek -tropos "turned, directed, living (in the manner indicated)," adjective derivative of trópos "turn, way, manner, style" — more at trope

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for trope

• cope
• dope
• grope
• lope
• mope
• nope
• antelope
• bronchoscope
• cantaloupe
• cystoscope
• endoscope
• envelope