trope

1 of 2

noun

ˈtrōp 

1

a

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

b

: a common or overused theme or device : cliché

the usual horror movie tropes

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

Noun

• banality
• bromide
• chestnut
• cliché
• cliche
• commonplace
• groaner
• homily
• platitude
• shibboleth
• truism

Examples of trope in a Sentence

Noun

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

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Escala Forma Miami’s tropical tropes are all used at once, and to great effect, within this living room by local studio Escala Forma. —Dan Howarth, Architectural Digest, 28 Apr. 2025

The first half is telling the love story that on the surface it’s meant to be about, which draws people in — using all of the tropes of romantic stories at the pop culture level. —Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2025

Bark’s set-building wizardry puts him in conversation with artists such as Jeff Wall or Gregory Crewdson, whose early work shares certain tropes with Bark’s still lifes, among them dead or taxidermied animals. —Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2025

Birth rate declines have also been prominent tropes for white supremacist mass shooters, including the shooter who killed 51 Muslim people and wounded 40 others at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019. —Lisa Hagen, NPR, 25 Apr. 2025

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