trope
noun
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Definition of trope
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Synonyms for trope
Synonyms
banality, bromide, chestnut, cliché (also cliche), commonplace, groaner, homily, platitude, shibboleth, truism
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Examples of trope in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
No one fits neatly into a trope, people are just trying to take care of themselves. — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "Joanne Ramos' 'The Farm' Forces Us to Take a Complicated Look at Our Society," 1 July 2019 Cooley and the writers even brilliantly play on some kid-friendly horror movie tropes, adding a fresh dimension to this journey. — Lindsey Bahr, Detroit Free Press, "In joyous new ‘Toy Story,’ the toys evolve, too," 20 June 2019 In a classic rom-com trope, Moe is barred from going to the dance and unloading her feelings. — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, "R29 Binge Club: Netflix’s Trinkets Recap," 15 June 2019 On Tuesday, meanwhile, a Republican campaign mailer surfaced in Connecticut, drawing on anti-Semitic tropes. — Rachel Withers, Vox, "Trump’s top agriculture official calls Florida’s gubernatorial race “cotton-pickin’ important”," 4 Nov. 2018 Even worse is Jack’s relationship with Ellie, which comes straight from Curtis’s grab-bag of tired, will-they-or-won’t-they tropes. — David Sims, The Atlantic, "Yesterday Imagines a World Where the Beatles Never Existed," 26 June 2019 As the election neared, Ms. Cabán and some of her supporters accused Ms. Katz’s supporters of running ads that used racial tropes to try to scare away voters. — Azi Paybarah, New York Times, "New York Primary Elections: Who’s Running for Queens D.A.," 25 June 2019 Eva wasn’t the first anime to marry fun action tropes with deeper religious symbolism and an overarching metaphysical tone. — Allegra Frank, Vox, "8 things to know about Neon Genesis Evangelion, the legendary anime now streaming on Netflix," 21 June 2019 Even Sam Peckinpah, a crusty cynic who wanted no part of psychedelic hippie pacifism, began turning movie tropes inside out, with The Wild Bunch, a Western like no other before it. — Kyle Smith, National Review, "The Wild Bunch and American Disillusionment," 20 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'trope.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
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Statistics for trope
Last Updated
14 Jul 2019
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for trope
The first known use of trope was before the 12th century
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More Definitions for trope
trope
noun
English Language Learners Definition of trope
See the full definition for trope in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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