hackneyed

American

[hak-need] / ˈhæk nid /

adjective

made commonplace or trite; stale; banal.

the hackneyed images of his poetry.

Synonyms:

overdone

hackneyed British

/ ˈhæknɪd /

adjective

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

"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

Related Words

See commonplace.

Other Word Forms

nonhackneyed adjective
unhackneyed adjective

Etymology

Origin of hackneyed

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

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.

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

From BBC • Oct. 9, 2024

“It may seem hackneyed, but the Supreme Court is well aware of the motto, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied,’” Gershman said.

From Salon • Feb. 15, 2024

The Ping-Pong table was surrounded by silent reminders of a singular college career — purple helmets, signed footballs, All-Pac-10 plaques, framed articles from Sports Illustrated and The Seattle Times featuring delightfully hackneyed headlines:

From Seattle Times • Oct. 6, 2023

More significantly, Ben Stones’s splendid set design eschews the hackneyed visual imagery associated with this show.

From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2023

So what if her first original words in months were the most hackneyed.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023