cliché

(noun)

An expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, even to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.

Related Terms

  • Slangs or colloquial language
  • Using the First Person in Academic Writing
  • argument
  • colloquial
  • first person
  • jargon
  • AWL

Examples of cliché in the following topics:

  • Appropriate Language

    • Nonetheless, one should avoid unnecessarily complicated language, jargon, and clichés.
    • A cliché is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning, or effect, and even to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel.
    • While clichés have a certain usefulness insofar as they can quickly communicate familiar ideas, they are rarely appropriate in formal writing.
    • The reason we want to avoid using clichés in academic writing is that they tend to be ambiguous and can come off as overly colloquial and informal.
  • Italics

    • The only exceptions are words that have been integrated into English like cliché, patio, and karate.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

Except where noted, content and user contributions on this site are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 with attribution required.