SHIBBOLETHS Synonyms: 39 Similar and Opposite Words

shibboleths

noun

plural of shibboleth

as in slogans

an attention-getting word or phrase used to publicize something (as a campaign or product) we knew that their claim of giving "the best deal in town" was just a shibboleth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in clichés

an idea or expression that has been used by many people there's a lot of truth in the shibboleth that if you give some people an inch, they'll take a mile

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

profundities

Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of shibboleths The director scores easy laughs off of modern-day progressive shibboleths such as gender-fluid pronouns, trigger warnings and Native American land acknowledgments. — Gustavo Arellano, Houston Chronicle, 25 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shibboleths

Noun

Fewer memorable metaphors, stories, lists, slogans and rhetorical devices; more literal, factual, technical or bureaucratic communication.

— Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026
Pithy slogans aside, all modern presidents shift responsibility onto others to some degree, frequently blaming the White House occupant who preceded them or Congress — or both.

— Will Weissert, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of slogans

Noun

Spain’s success over the past five years has undermined many long-standing political-economic truisms.

— Rogé Karma, The Atlantic, 1 June 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

Definition of truisms

Noun

Vuong’s photographs are displayed rather conventionally on the gallery walls, but the viewing experience is enhanced by images of his that have been printed on cloth banners that hang in the center of the space.

— Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 15 Aug. 2026
After the supreme leader was killed in February, the Iranian regime posted banners of his son and successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, around Tehran.

— Max Butterworth, NBC news, 15 Aug. 2026

Definition of banners

Noun

Today, Instagram unveiled a refresh of its wordmark, accompanied by the usual bland corporate platitudes these kinds of announcements are always packaged with.

— Aurich Lawson, ArsTechnica, 13 Aug. 2026
Not everybody needs to spend the rest of their life totally abstinent with a cup of shitty coffee in a Styrofoam cup regurgitating platitudes.

— James Hibberd, HollywoodReporter, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of platitudes

Noun

The language of a sociopath is very easy to have a mustached, twirly guy speaking and pontificating and vaguely threatening tropes, but to really give him a kind of humanity, vulnerability.

— Beatrice Verhoeven, HollywoodReporter, 15 Aug. 2026
Its real interest, though, seems to lie beyond both DC Universe lore and the procedural tropes of the rural murder investigations that occupy most of its runtime.

— Judy Berman, Time, 14 Aug. 2026

Definition of tropes

Noun

The president used similar bromides in private calls to assuage allies, including Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, before launching the war in February, according to people familiar with the conversations.

— Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026
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

Definition of bromides

Noun

Then morning would come, with all the banalities that drew them apart.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
And even though access to such banalities may sound brain-deadening, and at best dull, some of the most famous people in the world are now live-streamers.

— Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026

Definition of banalities

Noun

Teachers of science, mathematics and English were expected to include Quranic verses, sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad or other religious messages in their lessons.

— Fatima Faizi, NPR, 14 Aug. 2026
Personalize the labels with sweet sayings, their initials, or even anniversary dates to commemorate the occasion.

— Kate McGregor, Architectural Digest, 11 Aug. 2026

Definition of sayings

Browse Nearby Words

shibboleth

shibboleths

shied

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Style

“Shibboleths.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shibboleths. Accessed 22 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of shibboleths

noun

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