as in cliches
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for commonplaces
Noun
-
New novels are rightly praised for breaking with traditional forms and criticized for turning to stale formulas and cliches.—
Nathaniel Moore
September 10,
Literary Hub,
10 Sep. 2025 -
Just really not going to sit here and give some cliches.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Blending thriller, drama and romance tropes coated in an overall ironic tone, the film marks the directorial debut of Rampoldi, who is a prominent Italian screenwriter.—
Nick Vivarelli,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Most women fall somewhere in between those two tropes, and for years feminists like Strauss have been working to do away with that false binary.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Written by Noah Oppenheim, Bigelow’s real-time thriller about the banalities and actualities of a fictional-in-premise-only nuclear attack on the United States is Netflix’s best horse in the race at the Oscars this year.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
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
Noun
-
Survivors need concrete safety and justice, not spiritual platitudes.—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
-
My first true attempts at poetry were self-guided, painfully rhymed, drenched in abstractions and exhausted platitudes.—
Via Scribner,
Literary Hub,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The Workers’ Party of Korea is the sole ruling party of North Korea, blending communism with the words, sayings and ideals of the Kim dynasty, who have imposed their authoritarian rule on the country for three generations.—
Helen Regan,
CNN Money,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Little sayings like that get you through the rough patches.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
6 Oct. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Commonplaces.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/commonplaces. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share