as in cliche
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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Spoofing slashers and their tired cliches with a new perspective, the comedy features Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as good-natured hillbillies assumed to be backwoods psycho killers by a bunch of college students.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
18 Oct. 2025 -
To borrow a cliche, the M’s feel like the team of destiny.—
The Athletic MLB Staff,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Exposure to chemical warfare agents—such as nerve gas—or to pyridostigmine bromide, a drug given to soldiers as a preventive measure against chemical attacks, may have played a role.—
Aliss Higham,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
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There is an outright rejection of bromides that would give us some conclusion of reassurance.—
Richard Newby,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The lyrics, some inspired by proverbs and biblical passages, convey the fervor of his first love with God, without losing his personal touch.—
Jessica Roiz,
Billboard,
17 Oct. 2025
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His tale has become a proverb for any outdoor fanatic who, despite all of the proper planning and preparation, is undone by forces more powerful than him or herself.—
Frederick Dreier,
Outside,
7 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Teens are also sick of storytelling tropes that include love triangles (sorry, Celine Song), toxic relationships framed as romantic, and relationships based mostly on physical attraction, per the survey.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
22 Oct. 2025
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The kids navigate plenty of teen-movie tropes, too, but their combined magnetism lifts the entire movie.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
15 Oct. 2025
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One ironclad truism about sports is that all streaks eventually come to an end.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Continue reading … BLIND LOYALTY – Karine Jean-Pierre has rocky rollout for book as reviews pan Biden defense, platitudes.—
,
FOXNews.com,
24 Oct. 2025
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Survivors need concrete safety and justice, not spiritual platitudes.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Evil is aided and abetted by the banality of institutions and their functionaries.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
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This punishing process, thread by thread, inch by inch, keeps luridness from sinking into banality.—
Jerry Saltz,
Vulture,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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As the saying goes, the pen really is quite mighty.—
Iona Brannon,
Travel + Leisure,
18 Oct. 2025
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Pro-Palestinian activists view the phrase as a call for global support of Palestinian resistance against Israel, but many Jewish people view the saying as antisemitic and a call for violence.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
17 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Chestnut.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chestnut. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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