cliche
pronunciation
How to pronounce cliche in British English:
UK [ˈkliːʃeɪ]
How to pronounce cliche in American English:
US [klɪˈʃeɪ]
-
- Noun:
- a trite or obvious remark
Word Origin
- cliché
- cliché: [19] Originally, French clicher meant literally ‘stereotype’ – that is, ‘print from a plate made by making a type-metal cast from a mould of a printing surface’. The word was supposedly imitative of the sound made when the mould was dropped into the molten type metal. Hence a word or phrase that was cliché – had literally been repeated time and time again in identical form from a single printing plate – had become hackneyed.
- cliche (n.)
- 1825, "electrotype, stereotype," from French cliché, a technical word in printer's jargon for "stereotype block," noun use of past participle of clicher "to click" (18c.), supposedly echoic of the sound of a mold striking molten metal. Figurative extension to "trite phrase, worn-out expression" is first attested 1888, following the course of stereotype. Related: Cliched (1928).
Example
- 1. This might sound cliche , but prasara yoga really is for anyone .
- 2. I fear we are sometimes too sophisticated , too frightened of cliche or unoriginality , to make work with young people that simply and effectively addresses problems , then offers solutions .
- 3. You know the cliche : the person worth your tears won 't make you cry .
- 4. As corny and cliche as it sounds , you really have to learn how to cope because there is no going back .
- 5. We 've all heard the cliche before , actions speak louder than words ; but it has real truth in business .