hackneyed

[hak-need]

adjective

1. made commonplace or trite; stale; banal.

   the hackneyed images of his poetry.

   Synonyms: overdone

hackneyed

/ ˈhæknɪd /

adjective

1. (of phrases, fashions, etc) used so often as to be trite, dull, and stereotyped

Other Word Forms

• nonhackneyed adjective
• unhackneyed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hackneyed¹

First recorded in 1740–50; hackney + -ed ²

Synonym Study

See commonplace.

Example Sentences

Nonetheless, “Chess” leans primarily on a classic—or hackneyed?—dramatic trope: the love triangle.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Though the “crazy woman” trope inevitably persists in some form, it looks far more hackneyed than it did during its late-millennium heyday.

Read more on Salon

This hackneyed slippery slope argument – conflating entirely fair criticism of the court with fears of political violence – would be laughed out of any serious courtroom.

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Wears said she disapproved of Trump’s “hackneyed anecdotes from the locker room,” telling ABC News his speech was “inappropriate” and a waste of voters’ time.

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Early reviews called her music "hackneyed", "lightweight" and "emotionless".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• banal 
• corny 
• stale 
• threadbare 
• timeworn 
• trite 
• well-worn