tropes

noun

plural of trope
as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people a screenplay that reads like a catalog of mystery-thriller tropes the narrative trope of two rival characters falling in love by the end of the story

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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 tropes Authorities found a note on Karmelo Anthony's phone with a long list of disturbing racial tropes and slurs about Blacks, whites and Hispanics. — J.d. Miles, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 His content has also included references to Adolf Hitler and explicit antisemitic tropes. — Lauren Peller, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026 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 There’s only damage and dehumanizing and perpetuating racial tropes. — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 14 Aug. 2026 Their emotional appeals drew on longstanding cultural tropes that cast trans and gender-diverse people as deviant or dangerous, amplifying public anxieties about trans rights, despite a lack of evidence for such claims. — Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2026 These are not the traditional tropes of comics, but of literature and poetry. — Chris Ware, The New York Review of Books, 12 Aug. 2026 The tropes that conceive of Africa, a 54-nation continent, as a tragic problem to be solved. — Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tropes
  1. truisms
  2. sayings
  3. platitudes
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
  • As part of their annual Halloween decor drop, Anthropologie released Halloween bistro tile items that blend classic motifs and sayings with the Bistro Tile Collection’s Parisian style.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of sayings
Noun
  • In the second game of Monday’s doubleheader, Marmol showed his words weren’t just platitudes, pitching to Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz to start the bottom of the 10th inning with the automatic runner on second and first base open.
    — C. Trent Rosecrans, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of platitudes

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trope
tropes
trophies
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Cite this Entry

“Tropes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tropes. Accessed 28 Aug. 2026.

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