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
-
All the usual tropes would seem to be present and accounted for.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Jones’s novels derive much of their richness from her striking capacity to use literary and cultural tropes that may seem outmoded to new ends.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
That is a truism of NFL free agency.—
Daniel Popper,
New York Times,
9 Mar. 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
Noun
-
Well, Texas is good on offense and little else, and to his credit Miller isn't hiding behind platitudes about where this thing can go one day or what must happen over these next few weeks.—
Cedric Golden,
Austin American Statesman,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Li shook hands with Whitmarsh and exchanged platitudes with the other guests.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Such double-headers are far from commonplace in English football, but are becoming more frequent.—
Gregg Evans,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
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The most commonplace and the most concerning, as a consequence, come by way of phishing campaigns.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
While Haiti is the most mountainous country in the Caribbean, the saying is often used to reflect the immense and constant obstacles Haiti has had to overcome.—
Kathleen Rellihan,
Outside,
15 Mar. 2026
-
Slopes don’t have to be a problem The saying goes that Kansas is flat.—
Markis Hill,
Kansas City Star,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The case exposed the depressing banality of it all—the man smiling politely at you at the bakery, only to rape your comatose body at night.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The scale and range of Dominique Pelicot’s partners in crime showed the terrible banality of their acts, and how easily society had allowed them.—
Gaby Wood,
Vogue,
21 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Groaner.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groaner. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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