as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
the familiar summertime commonplace that "It's not the heat, it's the humidity"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commonplaces
Noun
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How Michelle Obama has responded to criticism The Obamas have long faced racist tropes, and there has been a constant barrage of online abuse against Michelle.—
Jennifer Hassan,
USA Today,
15 June 2026 -
The life of the 28-year-old Euphoria breakout was engulfed in controversy last year over a campaign for the fashion brand American Eagle that some accused of trafficking in racist tropes.—
Ryan Coleman,
Entertainment Weekly,
15 June 2026
Noun
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One effect of this austerity and repression is to focus attention on Albee’s language, with its slippery banalities and barbs.—
Steven Winn,
San Francisco Chronicle,
3 Apr. 2026
-
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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Spain’s success over the past five years has undermined many long-standing political-economic truisms.—
Rogé Karma,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
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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
Noun
-
What is in danger is that this will strip away the soul, the raw humanity actors like Jim Handy brough to each role and replace it with flat, generalized platitudes.—
Carl Kurlander,
Deadline,
13 June 2026
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The second was that, along with the platitudes about resilience, attendees were unusually honest about the Gulf’s predicament.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
4 June 2026
Noun
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Strapping’s product mix is equal parts practical and playful, from tasteful housewares to apparel and linens with sassy sayings.—
Sean Timberlake,
Sacbee.com,
12 June 2026
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Unfortunately and annoyingly, sometimes sayings like that are repeated so much for a reason.—
Ellise Shafer,
Variety,
12 June 2026
Noun
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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
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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
Noun
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At this year’s Thorpe ceremony, too, Barron and Dennard — men of faith — bonded over Proverbs 27:17, talking about Barron’s future.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
12 Apr. 2026
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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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In the medieval town of Belvì, men roast chestnuts—marroni—over an open fire in a frying pan the size of a swimming pool and then serve them to the crowd by shoveling them into troughs.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
7 May 2026
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Canned Water Chestnuts Fresh water chestnuts, while hard to find, are sweeter and juicier than canned varieties, with a cleaner, more pronounced crunch.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
6 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Commonplaces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commonplaces. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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