hackneyed
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See commonplace.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of hackneyed
Explanation
Hackneyed is a word for language that doesn't pack a punch since it's overused and trite. "Roses are red, violets are..." — enough already?! That's hackneyed stuff. Hackneyed is usually used to describe tired writing, but you can also refer to the hackneyed plots of television sit-coms or the hackneyed jokes of your Uncle Fred. But, most often, you will see hackneyed before the word phrase to refer to a specific cliché that is annoying the heck out of someone.
Vocabulary lists containing hackneyed
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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Grade 12, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Kessler thought Spengler a “fat priest with a fat chin and brutal mouth” and his theories “the most hackneyed, trivial stuff,” but Kessler sensed the ominous turn in Germany’s cultural politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
But, as the author shows, there are surprising nuggets of truth even in such hackneyed ideas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Last night 'North London Forever' suddenly lost its hackneyed ring and became a rousing anthem.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
The film rests in a dismal tone for so long that its gloominess becomes sappy, making the ending feel hackneyed and inevitable.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025
So what if her first original words in months were the most hackneyed.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
