old hat

adjective

1

: old-fashioned

2

: lacking in freshness : trite

Example Sentences

I suppose my favorite joke's a bit old hat by now.

Making hit movies is old hat for him.

Recent Examples on the Web

One by one, mushers were called up from their tables to pick their starting positions, drawn at random from an old hat. —Zachariah Hughes, Anchorage Daily News, 3 Mar. 2023

What’s old was new has gone back to old hat. —Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 31 Aug. 2022

For Reddick, proving people wrong is old hat. —Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2023

The Masters is old hat. —Los Angeles Times, 7 Apr. 2022

For Ross, of course, this is old hat. —Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 5 Aug. 2021

For Baltimore, success was old hat. —Mike Klingaman, baltimoresun.com, 22 July 2021

Gelation theory is old hat in physics, but Johnson made the crucial observation that the process of milk coagulation can be characterized by the same kinds of equations that charted the upsurge of ISIS groups. —Steve Nadis, Discover Magazine, 10 Feb. 2020

The practice is old hat among major studios, who have tested content since the Silent Era, seeking input from viewers outside of the entertainment industry for a real sense of how characters and story lines will fare. —Sarah Krouse, WSJ, 1 Dec. 2022

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Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined at sense 1