CLICHES Synonyms: 24 Similar and Opposite Words

clichés

noun

variants also cliches

plural of cliché

as in tropes

an idea or expression that has been used by many people try to write a love story without resorting to well-worn clichés

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

profundities

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of clichés The ballet became a hilarious parody of Wagnerian cliches as a cartwheeling child wearing sneakers with rainbow lights and dressed in gold, resembling statues of the composer, presided in front of a faux Bayreuth proscenium. — ABC News, 4 Aug. 2026 Desirée can so often come off a bundle of cliches of actresses of a certain age, all narcissism, hedonism and irresponsibility. — Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 29 June 2026 Brousson is an Austin resident and often posts satirical videos teasing Texas cliches and generalizations. — Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 June 2026 In this section, artists Wendy Red Star, Omar Victor Diop, Yuki Kihara, Frida Orupabo, and Dimakatso Mathopa mine the tropes and cliches borne of these images, and through satire and recontextualization, offer works that center their own empowerment and subjectivity. — The Editors Of Artnews, ARTnews.com, 10 June 2026 But for Maria Poveromo, a soon-to-be Woodbridge High School graduate, some academic cliches still ring true. — Victoria Le, Oc Register, 29 May 2026 Club Kid runs right up to and then darts around so many potential cliches in a way that’s really satisfying. — Rachel Handler, Vulture, 26 May 2026 Sure, Josh’s seasonal arc becomes finding a new mate before the next hibernation, but the episodic stories soon settle into all-too-familiar rom-com cliches, without enough contrast from the animal’s POV to provide much enlightenment for the human audience. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 22 May 2026 Harvard may get a more empowering storyline than his florist-hairdresser-retail-clerk predecessors, but the humor is redolent of the same punishing cliches. — Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for clichés

Noun

Though the familiar tropes of YA storytelling exist throughout, the series engages with the genre’s conventions earnestly and with sincerity, says Halsall.

— Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 6 Aug. 2026
The tropes that conceive of Africa, a 54-nation continent, as a tragic problem to be solved.

— Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of tropes

Noun

At last week’s meeting, though, Warsh spoke largely in platitudes and generalizations.

— John Cassidy, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Some called out the statement for making sweeping generalizations about Phish fans, especially when most of the crowd was all kind vibes.

— Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 14 July 2026

Definition of generalizations

Noun

Spain’s success over the past five years has undermined many long-standing political-economic truisms.

— Rogé Karma, The Atlantic, 1 June 2026
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

Definition of truisms

Noun

And even though access to such banalities may sound brain-deadening, and at best dull, some of the most famous people in the world are now live-streamers.

— Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026
For all the women looking up at me to think of me not as a crying heap on a toilet whose baby never latched but as someone who found meaning in all of our daily banalities.

— Danielle Parker, CBS News, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of banalities

Noun

One of the study’s most notable findings is that 96% of respondents want to see multiple generations represented on screen, largely because doing so reflects real-life relationships and helps break down stereotypes about age.

— Dominique Fluker, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
Each one functions like a coarse grain of sand, eroding the certainties and stereotypes that harden racial discourse.

— Zachary Fine, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026

Definition of stereotypes

Noun

The president used similar bromides in private calls to assuage allies, including Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, before launching the war in February, according to people familiar with the conversations.

— Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026
While these songs might appear to be somewhat straightforward EBM that wear their politics on their latex sleeve, there’s a level of ambiguity at work that moves Kissing Luck Goodbye past its own bromides and into deeper artistic territory.

— Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 16 Apr. 2026

Definition of bromides

Noun

There are also some surviving large American chestnuts, some of which have heritable blight resistance.

— Steve Strauss, The Conversation, 22 July 2026
Mature trees donate an encyclopedia of species, including the regional pines and chestnuts planted on instruction of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in the 1700s.

— Nielsen Dinwoodie, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026

Definition of chestnuts

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clichéd

clichés

click

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“Clichés.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/clich%C3%A9s. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of clichés

noun

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