hackneyed
Americanadjective
adjective
Synonym Usage
See commonplace.
Other Word Forms
Derived 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
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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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.
Hackneyed metaphor aside, it’s a strange prop to have at an event for whatever reason.
From Slate • Feb. 28, 2023
Hackneyed, misleading, self-serving and dull, the annual address should be put out of its misery — and ours.
From Washington Post • Feb. 5, 2023
Hackneyed rock legends wouldn’t get a look-in now, would they?
From The Guardian • May 16, 2020
Hackneyed and pointless or not, it was at least a genuine ordeal.
From Slate • Oct. 25, 2017
"Hackneyed" as Oliver had declared it to be, it is a song which every audience loves to hear.
From Brooke's Daughter A Novel by Sergeant, Adeline
Definitions 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.
