as in clichés
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 groaners
Those pacing blips aren’t the only groaners.
—
Greg Evans, Deadline, 15 Apr. 2026
Greg Evans, Deadline, 15 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for groaners
Noun
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Readers share Mother's Day advice, funny sayings and expressions from moms.—
Letters to the Editor,
Washington Post,
8 May 2026
-
Grandma may be the queen of nonsensical sayings, but Dad is certainly the king of cheesy jokes.—
Hallie Milstein,
Southern Living,
2 May 2026
Noun
-
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
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One of the truisms in the past for Team Canada at some best-on-best events is needing a few games to find its game.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The 4/4 pulse that runs through much of the album comes without any house or techno tropes.—
Will Lynch,
Pitchfork,
11 May 2026
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Gilbert — who seven years ago headlined this venue himself — smoked a cigar and dipped tobacco simultaneously for much of his set, which luxuriated in country-music-concert tropes.—
Théoden Janes,
Charlotte Observer,
10 May 2026
Noun
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The lyrics—elsewhere evocative—wilt dramatically, a slurry of platitudes.—
Linnie Greene,
Pitchfork,
29 Apr. 2026
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Neville is smart enough as a documentarian to leave out platitudes, but also to let access to Michaels’ Maine retreat be a vibe rather than some knockout reveal.—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
Noun
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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
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Disruption without construction Instructors burned out with the current situation endure a barrage of repetitive bromides.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
13 Apr. 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
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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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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
Cite this Entry
“Groaners.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groaners. Accessed 14 May. 2026.
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