What does cliched mean?
Cliched is an adjective used to describe words, phrases, ideas, images, or creative works that have become stale and unoriginal through excessive repetition. When a plot twist, a piece of dialogue, or a visual image is called cliched, the implication is that it once may have been effective but has been used so often that it no longer surprises or engages. The word carries an inherently negative connotation, suggesting laziness or a failure of imagination on the part of the writer, artist, or speaker. It appears most often in criticism — reviewers describe cliched characters, cliched endings, and cliched metaphors — but it is equally at home in casual conversation about tired jokes or predictable storylines. The term derives from the noun cliché, which itself traces back to a French printing term for a stereotype plate that reproduced identical text mechanically, making the word's own history a fitting metaphor for mechanical repetition.
adjectiveRendered unoriginal or trite through overuse; lacking freshness or originality because it has been repeated too often.
- Describing language, ideas, images, or artistic elements that have become trite through excessive repetition.
- Describing a work or situation as being predictable and lacking originality overall.
"The film's cliched ending — the hero walking away from an explosion without looking back — drew groans from the audience."
"Critics dismissed the novel as full of cliched characters — the brooding detective, the femme fatale, the wise old mentor."
"His speech was sincere but peppered with cliched expressions about seizing the day."
The word for 'overused' comes from a printing term for a metal plate that could stamp out identical copies again and again — so calling something cliched literally means it was mass-produced.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cliched
Cliched derives from the French noun cliché, which originated in nineteenth-century printing as an onomatopoeic term for the clicking sound made by a stereotyping press casting a metal printing plate. Because such plates allowed identical text to be reproduced effortlessly and repeatedly, cliché came to mean any overused expression. English adopted the adjective form to describe things characterized by such overused material, and the spelling gradually dropped the acute accent in standard usage.
How cliched is actually used
Cliched is almost always pejorative, carrying a strong connotation of laziness or lack of imagination. It is frequently used in criticism of art, film, literature, and writing. The spelling without the acute accent (cliched rather than clichéd) is now standard in both British and American English, though the accented form appears in older texts. It is common in both formal criticism and everyday speech.
Easily confused with cliched
A cliché is the noun — the overused expression or idea itself — while cliched is the adjective describing something as being full of, or characterized by, such overused elements.