as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
ended his letter with the overused truism, "You can't win them all!"
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Recent Examples of truisms
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
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
But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025
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
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
But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for truisms
Noun
-
The process is so slow that a City Council committee held a hearing earlier this month essentially to turn up the heat on administration officials, who offered no explanation for the molasses-like contracting process other than platitudes.—
The Editorial Board,
Chicago Tribune,
29 May 2026
-
The public backing from members of the squad for Carrick has been pronounced, beyond the usual platitudes of players supporting their manager.—
Laurie Whitwell,
New York Times,
24 May 2026
Noun
-
Sets come in half-dozens and include designs like a soccer ball, a flag, celebratory sayings in the language and a jersey, according to its website.—
Noelle Alviz-Gransee
May 15,
Kansas City Star,
15 May 2026
-
Readers share Mother's Day advice, funny sayings and expressions from moms.—
Letters to the Editor,
Washington Post,
8 May 2026
Noun
-
In another Amsterdam photo, a pair of identical world globes, recalling Ghirri’s passion for cartography and atlases, rest on matching supports to conjure that oldest of surrealist tropes, a pair of staring eyes.—
James Quandt,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Professional arcs not entirely aside, this is a romantic comedy, full of meet-cutes and related tropes, where love rules; no one’s got it, everyone’s looking for it.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
Noun
-
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
-
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
-
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
Noun
-
At this year’s Thorpe ceremony, too, Barron and Dennard — men of faith — bonded over Proverbs 27:17, talking about Barron’s future.—
Luca Evans,
Denver Post,
12 Apr. 2026
-
For nine months, Erasmus spent his short nights in a modest dorm and his long days in the print shop, expanding on his collection of proverbs Adagiorum chiliades while Aldus proofread, craftsman carefully laying sets of print and rolling paper through the press.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
24 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Truisms.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/truisms. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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