catch phrase

or catchphrase

See synonyms for catch phrase on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a phrase that attracts or is meant to attract attention.

  2. a phrase, as a slogan, that comes to be widely and repeatedly used, often with little of the original meaning remaining.

Origin of catch phrase

1
First recorded in 1840–50; catch(word) + phrase

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use catch phrase in a sentence

  • But the more up-to-date a thing may be, whether it be a popular catchphrase or a whole book, the more ephemeral is its existence.

  • And when a man wants to talk like that "how-do-you-do" is as good a catchphrase as the next to keep his tongue discreet.

    Sally of Missouri | R. E. Young

British Dictionary definitions for catch phrase

catch phrase

noun
  1. a well-known frequently used phrase, esp one associated with a particular group, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012