cliché

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See also: Cliché, cliche, clichê, and cliche'

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from French cliché.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkliːʃeɪ/
  • Rhymes: -iːʃeɪ
  • (US) enPR: klē-shāʹ, IPA(key): /kliˈʃeɪ/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪ

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

cliché (plural clichés)

  1. Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude.
    Synonyms: platitude, stereotype; see also Thesaurus:saying
    The villain kidnapping the love interest in a film is a bit of a cliché.
    I know it's a bit of a cliché, but love really does conquer all.
  2. (printing) A stereotype (printing plate).

Usage notes

  • The alternative spelling cliche may be used without confusion, as there is no other word in English with this spelling. (Contrast résumé, resumé.)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

cliché (comparative more cliché, superlative most cliché)

  1. (proscribed) clichéd; having the characteristics of a cliché

Verb

cliché (third-person singular simple present clichés, present participle clichéing, simple past and past participle clichéd or (rare) clichéed)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To use a cliché; to make up a word or a name that sounds like a cliché.
    • 2015, Shonda Rhimes, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person‎:
      He clichéd at me. He clichéd at me in a perky, condescending tone.

Anagrams

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French cliché.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kliˈʃeː/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: cli‧ché
  • Rhymes: -eː

Noun

cliché n (plural clichés, diminutive clichétje n)

  1. A cliché.
  2. An unoriginal work.
  3. A printing plate, a stereotype.

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Afrikaans: cliché
  • → Indonesian: klise

French

Etymology

Past participle of clicher (“to stereotype, (originally) to copy”, literally “to click, clink”), from Middle French clicher, from Old French cliquer (“to click, clack, sound, resound”), of Germanic origin, related to Dutch klikken (“to click, rattle”), Low German klikken (“to click”), German klicken (“to click”), Danish klikke (“to click”), Swedish klicka (“to click”). Probably onomatopoeic, and probably influenced by Middle High German klitsch (“soft, pulpy mass”), from the old technique of creating a printing plate. More at click.

Pronunciation

Noun

cliché m (plural clichés)

  1. (printing) stereotype (printing plate)
    La reproduction dans la presse de dessins et de photographies se fait au moyen de clichés typographiques.
    The reproduction in the press of drawings and photographs is done by means of typographical clichés.
  2. (photography) negative
  3. (by extension) snapshot
    prendre un cliché ― take a snapshot
  4. (figurative) cliché; stereotype (overused phrase or expression)
    Synonyms: banalité, idée reçue, lieu commun, stéréotype

Descendants

Further reading

Italian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French cliché.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kliʃˈʃɛ/**, /kliʃˈʃe/**
  • Rhymes: -ɛ, -e

Noun

cliché m (invariable)

  1. plate (printing)
  2. cliché

References

  1. ^ cliché in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French cliché. Doublet of klisza.

Pronunciation

Noun

cliché n (indeclinable)

  1. (literary, rhetoric) cliché (overused phrase or expression)
    Synonyms: klisza, szablon

Further reading

  • cliché in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia es

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from French cliché.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kliˈt͡ʃe/
  • Rhymes: -e
  • Syllabification: cli‧ché

Noun

cliché m (plural clichés)

  1. (printing) cliché
  2. (talking) cliché

Further reading

Anagrams

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