as in cliché
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
the play's dialogue featured all of the groaners that seem to be de rigueur for any dysfunctional-family drama
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Recent Examples of groaner
Che laughs about four groaners in a row, looking around sheepishly.
—
Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 15 Dec. 2024
The only possible groaner, a joke about school shootings, clearly worked with the improv audience but, Wood reasoned, needed to come later in Saturday’s set, once the audience had grown to trust him a bit.
—Wesley Lowery, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Evidently the authors — and the director, Jack O’Brien — meant to glue the show together with groaners, a gutsy if not entirely successful move.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
The pointillistic eclecticism of @NYT_first_said does tend to highlight the linguistic extremes—the novelties and the gags and the groaners.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023
There's already been some on-track action, but the first big groaner for the GTP class happens to BMW, when the No. 25 car comes to a halt on the track, sort of half in, half out of the exit.
—Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 30 Jan. 2023
White’s favorite joke is an all-time groaner.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Dec. 2021
The premise for this TV One comedy is a groaner: A woman who followed in the footsteps of her mother and had a child at 16 will go to silly lengths to keep her 16-year-old daughter from doing the same.
—Dawn Burkes, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2021
Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 15 Dec. 2024
The only possible groaner, a joke about school shootings, clearly worked with the improv audience but, Wood reasoned, needed to come later in Saturday’s set, once the audience had grown to trust him a bit.
—Wesley Lowery, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Evidently the authors — and the director, Jack O’Brien — meant to glue the show together with groaners, a gutsy if not entirely successful move.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
The pointillistic eclecticism of @NYT_first_said does tend to highlight the linguistic extremes—the novelties and the gags and the groaners.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023
There's already been some on-track action, but the first big groaner for the GTP class happens to BMW, when the No. 25 car comes to a halt on the track, sort of half in, half out of the exit.
—Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 30 Jan. 2023
White’s favorite joke is an all-time groaner.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Dec. 2021
The premise for this TV One comedy is a groaner: A woman who followed in the footsteps of her mother and had a child at 16 will go to silly lengths to keep her 16-year-old daughter from doing the same.
—Dawn Burkes, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for groaner
Noun
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Such is the brilliance of Wes Craven’s self-aware spin on serial-killer tropes, which manages to both mock a generation of teenagers raised on the campy likes of Friday the 13th and deliver honest scares in its own right.—
The Atlantic Culture Desk,
The Atlantic,
29 Oct. 2025
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But of course, like all good enemies-to-lover tropes, Clarke and Lexa were forced to put aside their differences to save their people — and ultimately fell in love.—
Catherine Mhloyi,
Them.,
29 Oct. 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
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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
-
This is now a political war that has escalated far beyond the ethical platitudes some use to argue against Proposition 50.—
Marc Lampe,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Oct. 2025
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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
Noun
-
Ion gauges are relatively cheap (under US $1,000) and commonplace.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
24 Sep. 2025
-
The fact of death: what a commonplace, what a banal place to land.—
Garth Greenwell,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Amish are part of the wider Anabaptist movement, which puts heavy emphasis on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, containing some of his most radical and counter-cultural sayings — to love enemies, live simply, bless persecutors, turn the other cheek and to endure sufferings joyfully.—
Dave Smith,
Fortune,
30 Oct. 2025
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But as the saying goes, the best ability is availability, and Ertz has proven to be one of the most frequently available and productive tight ends in the history of the sport.—
Reice Shipley,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 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
Cite this Entry
“Groaner.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groaner. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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