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What is the Difference Between cliché and stereotype?
The words cliché and stereotype have a good deal in common. Both come from French, both were originally printers’ terms, and both have come to take on somewhat negative meanings in modern use.
Their original meanings are essentially synonymous, referring to printing blocks from which numerous prints could be made. In fact, cliché means stereotype in French. Their modern meanings, however, are quite distinct. Cliché is today overwhelmingly encountered in reference to something hackneyed, such as an overly familiar or commonplace phrase, theme, or expression. Stereotype is most frequently now employed to refer to an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic.
Examples of cliché in a Sentence
William F. Buckley, Jr., National Review, 1 May 2000
FILM "I Like It Like That": It has every cliché of the 'hood genre, elevated by a strong woman protagonist and a few comic moments.
—Bell Hooks, Ms., September/October 1994
I'd never been out with a model before, so I hadn't even bargained on the cliché of the rock star and the model as being part of my life.
—David Bowie, quoted in Rolling Stone, 10 June 1993
Time has been the best healer for the pain of loss, just as the old cliché says, but letting go is still difficult.
—Lynn McAndrews, My Father Forgets, 1990
… don't seek the ultimate, general solution; find a corner that can be defined precisely and, as our new cliché proclaims, go for it.
—Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History, July 1987
a speech filled with clichés about “finding your way” and “keeping the faith”
The macho cop of Hollywood movies has become a cliché.
Ron Hurtibise, Sun Sentinel, 4 July 2025
The actor does his best to exude menace, but he’s hampered by a script filled with franchise cliches like an evil admiral (Peter Weller) and Kirk playing fast and loose with the Prime Directive.
—Chris Snellgrove, EW.com, 30 June 2025
To invoke a cliche, the movie teaches you how to watch it, establishing a visual language early and hammering it often.
—Paul A. Thompson, Pitchfork, 20 June 2025
Those go a long way in forgiving the multitude of subplots and the toolbox of car cliches.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 June 2025
The lyrics aren’t much better, recycling various cliches about self-love.
—Barry Levitt, Vulture, 12 May 2025
Answers vary from obvious to obscure, some citing culture or clutch performances, while others cling to cliches that this club is turning into truths.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 26 June 2025
To fall back on one of horror marketing’s favorite cliches, the man has a twisted mind.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 26 June 2025
And the plot is just awful, crammed with so many cliches that you’re barely done chuckling at one before another kicks you in the head.
—Frank Scheck, HollywoodReporter, 28 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cliché.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clich%C3%A9. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cliché
noun
French, literally, "metal printing plate"
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