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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Despite their clear affection for these women, the Dardenne brothers never sugarcoat their characters’ unenviable circumstance or latch onto phony bromides to alleviate our anxiety.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Jan. 2026 -
Doping the Undopable The work focuses on cesium lead bromide nanoparticles known as CsPbBr3.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Dec. 2025
Noun
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But perhaps the night’s theme was best summed up by a proverb, not from Italy, but Coventry’s native continent.—
Scott M. Reid,
Oc Register,
7 Feb. 2026
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And there’s a proverb, this idea of the secret of getting old.—
Renée Onque,
CNBC,
26 Nov. 2025
Noun
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At least those visual mannerisms and tropes are pretty much universal, baked into the DNA of TV casting-and-talent shows worldwide.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Feb. 2026
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Microdramas are similar to soap operas, focusing on common tropes and over-the-top theatrics.—
Devika Rao,
TheWeek,
18 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The play isn’t subtle; the final sequence leans hard on truisms about addiction and trauma, which are affecting but overly explicit.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
20 Feb. 2026
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One of the truisms in the past for Team Canada at some best-on-best events is needing a few games to find its game.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Many use cases are still being deployed or piloted, and the agency’s AI database is filled with jargon and platitudes that, in many instances, can be interpreted in multiple ways.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
13 Feb. 2026
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Google is famous for dodging questions by reciting platitudes on its calls.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
30 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Using the book as a conscious tool of image-building is a more recent phenomenon, however, leading critic Jaime Fuller to lament the banality of such tomes in his 2019 Literary Hub article.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
4 Feb. 2026
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The film is a harrowing look at the banality of evil in its most dangerous form.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Politics ain’t beanbag, as the saying goes.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
20 Feb. 2026
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My accent and ways of saying signaled something different there, something other than modesty.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 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 27 Feb. 2026.
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