as in stereotyped
used or heard so often as to be dull
it's hackneyed, but true—the more you save the more you earn
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in exhausted
to use so much as to make less appealing
advertisers have hackneyed the word "revolutionary" so much that it now just means that a product is new
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hackneyed
Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
The story revolves around this character in ways that feel hackneyed and forced.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Trauma is not a hackneyed literary trope in the work of Miriam Toews.
—Lorrie Moore, The New York Review of Books, 4 Sep. 2025
Writer-director James Agnew’s hackneyed action-thriller is woefully short on action and thrills, and generic enough to suggest it was scripted by AI.
—Joe Leydon, Variety, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hackneyed
Adjective
Unfortunately though, Cooper can’t escape certain hackneyed biopic tropes in representing the songwriting, which are almost impossible to avoid.
—Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
The story revolves around this character in ways that feel hackneyed and forced.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Trauma is not a hackneyed literary trope in the work of Miriam Toews.
—Lorrie Moore, The New York Review of Books, 4 Sep. 2025
Writer-director James Agnew’s hackneyed action-thriller is woefully short on action and thrills, and generic enough to suggest it was scripted by AI.
—Joe Leydon, Variety, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for hackneyed
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hackneyed
Adjective
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Kelly Enders-Tharp, a three-time surrogate and education and experience specialist at Growing Generations, explains that surrogates are often stereotyped, or that their backgrounds are misrepresented.—
Kris Ann Valdez,
Parents,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Later, Lenape artist Joe Baker places cutout photographs of his ancestors over the stereotyped images of Native Americans found in the wallpaper.—
Tom McDonough,
Artforum,
1 Nov. 2025
Verb
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By fiscal year 2029-30, the district would have exhausted all of its reserve funding, the forecast states.—
Michelle Mullins,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Feb. 2026
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The statute also requires that the Pentagon have exhausted any alternative, less intrusive courses of action to mitigate the risk prior to making the supply chain risk finding.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Simmons said Tarrant families are tired of O’Hare’s bullying, silencing and antics.—
Rachel Royster
March 5,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 Mar. 2026
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His poor metrics are the result of the Panthers looking tired and worn down in front of him, and Bobrovsky not being consistently at his absolute best.—
Jesse Granger,
New York Times,
5 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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If frictionless facial recognition becomes commonplace, theoretically, ICE is vulnerable to the technology as well.—
Sarah Jeong,
The Verge,
1 Mar. 2026
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In the one-reel short — which features only one single camera set-up, as was commonplace at the time — Méliès plays a magician who winds up an automaton dressed as the clown Pierrot.—
Eric Henderson,
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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So, if the idea of culture is overused, its importance tells the path to success — or failure.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Jan. 2026
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Lastly, Abbas notes that, like any exfoliant, citric acid can cause dryness, irritation, or sensitivity if overused or used in very high concentrations.—
Jacqueline Kilikita,
Refinery29,
14 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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That’s all well and good, but the series still needs a sturdy narrative to hold it all together, rather than ping-ponging between random subjects offering trite, emotionally hollow morality lessons.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
23 Feb. 2026
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What ultimately keeps the house from feeling hokey or trite is Glazer’s commitment to her all-encompassing taste.—
Mark Lamster
Architecture Critic,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Crime-scene investigators bored holes and pulled out a succession of neat plastic packages containing razors, saw blades, handcuff keys, and security bits.—
James Verini,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
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Sanders, apparently bored by the standard vernacular of police work and not enamored with the work of American journalist and short-story author Damon Runyon, developed his own lingo for his reports.—
Kevin Foster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Journalists related stories to Brown of the future princess giving them the slip, joking with them, managing her media relations so she wouldn’t be overexposed or maligned.—
Bailey Bujnosek,
InStyle,
23 Feb. 2026
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Most retirees are overexposed to housing.—
Allison Schrager,
Twin Cities,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hackneyed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hackneyed. Accessed 7 Mar. 2026.
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