as in bromide
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
An op-ed piece that offers nothing but warmed-over chestnuts for solving the city's financial woes.
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chestnut
Noun
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Doping the Undopable The work focuses on cesium lead bromide nanoparticles known as CsPbBr3.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Dec. 2025 -
There is a reason why the apocalyptic bromides about the state of print haven’t come to fruition, other than for disposable periodicals and newspapers.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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And there’s a proverb, this idea of the secret of getting old.—
Renée Onque,
CNBC,
26 Nov. 2025
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For nine months, Erasmus spent his short nights in a modest dorm and his long days in the print shop, expanding on his collection of proverbs Adagiorum chiliades while Aldus proofread, craftsman carefully laying sets of print and rolling paper through the press.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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There is so much pleasure to be had in rereading old favorites—and part of the joy is meeting beloved characters, who have been updated or somehow arrive in a new form to resist old tropes and types.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Jan. 2026
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The other one that happens to me more regularly is seeing common tropes or scenarios from the media and tipping them just slightly on their side.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Warfare Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
1 Dec. 2025
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Kemp does warn his readers to be skeptical of truisms about the nature of history and the odds of apocalypse.—
Linda Kinstler,
The Atlantic,
1 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Eritrea had trounced Zanzibar to reach the semi-finals of the CECAFA Under-20 Championship — consisting of national teams from east and central African nations — when, amid the celebrations and platitudes from government officials back home, the players made their move.—
Simon Hughes,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
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On one hand, the platitudes of traditional sportsbook operators fracturing under a droplet of business pressure reflects how the world works.—
Dan Bernstein,
Sportico.com,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Openness comes from these encounters with banality and consistency.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
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As far back as the Victorian era, exchanging a few banalities was part of a veritable social code—a way of signaling both politeness and boundaries.—
Jeanne Ballion,
Vogue,
27 Dec. 2025
Noun
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Turnovers come in bunches, the saying goes.—
Parker Gabriel,
Denver Post,
4 Jan. 2026
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Kids can be cruel, as the old saying goes.—
Dr. Mahvash Madni,
Boston Herald,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Fruity Pebbles have become a new shibboleth in the ongoing feud between The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives stars Demi Engemann and Jessi Ngatikaura Draper.—
Bethy Squires,
Vulture,
26 Nov. 2025
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This opens up the possibility that the agency can finally be wrenched away from divisive ideologies and progressive shibboleths and become a streamlined international-development assistance system that truly advances America’s interests.—
The Editors,
National Review,
5 Feb. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Chestnut.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chestnut. Accessed 17 Jan. 2026.
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