cliché
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from FrenchCategory:English terms borrowed from French#CLICHECategory:English terms derived from French#CLICHE cliché.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkliːʃeɪ/Category:English 2-syllable words#CLICHECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#CLICHE
- Rhymes: -iːʃeɪCategory:Rhymes:English/iːʃeɪ#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:English/iːʃeɪ/2 syllables#CLICHE
- (General American) enPR: klē-shāʹ, IPA(key): /kliˈʃeɪ/Category:English 2-syllable words#CLICHECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#CLICHE
Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#CLICHEAudio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪCategory:Rhymes:English/eɪ#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:English/eɪ/2 syllables#CLICHE
- Hyphenation: cli‧ché
Noun
cliché (plural clichés)Category:English lemmas#CLICHECategory:English nouns#CLICHECategory:English countable nouns#CLICHECategory:English terms spelled with É#CLICHECategory:English terms spelled with ◌́#CLICHECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- 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. [from 19th c.]
- Synonyms: platitude, stereotype; see also Thesaurus:saying
- The villain kidnapping the love interest in a film is a bit of a cliché.Category:English terms with usage examples#CLICHE
- I know it's a bit of a cliché, but love really does conquer all.Category:English terms with usage examples#CLICHE
- 2003, “The Package”, performed by A Perfect Circle:
- Clever got me this farCategory:English terms with quotations#CLICHE
Then tricky got me in
Eye on what I'm after
I don't need another friend
Smile and drop the cliche
Till you think I'm listening
Take just what I came for
Then I'm out the door again
- 2023, “Remember All The Girls”, performed by The Sherlocks:
- Don’t believe what they’re saying everything’s is gonna change How could it be ever the same? It’s just a cliché fading Till we go our separate waysCategory:English terms with quotations#CLICHE
- (printingCategory:en:Printing#CLICHE) A stereotype (printing plate).
Usage notes
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
Adjective
cliché (comparative more cliché, superlative most cliché)Category:English lemmas#CLICHECategory:English adjectives#CLICHECategory:English terms spelled with É#CLICHECategory:English terms spelled with ◌́#CLICHECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- (sometimes 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)Category:English lemmas#CLICHECategory:English verbs#CLICHECategory:English terms spelled with É#CLICHECategory:English terms spelled with ◌́#CLICHECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- (ambitransitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#CLICHECategory:English intransitive verbs#CLICHE) 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.Category:English terms with quotations#CLICHE
Anagrams
Category:en:Rhetoric#CLICHEDutch
Etymology
Borrowed from FrenchCategory:Dutch terms borrowed from French#CLICHECategory:Dutch terms derived from French#CLICHE cliché.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kliˈʃeː/Category:Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation#CLICHE
Category:Dutch terms with audio pronunciation#CLICHEAudio: (file) - Hyphenation: cli‧ché
- Rhymes: -eːCategory:Rhymes:Dutch/eː#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:Dutch/eː/2 syllables#CLICHE
Noun
cliché n (plural clichés, diminutive clicheetje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#CLICHECategory:Dutch nouns#CLICHECategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -s#CLICHECategory:Dutch terms spelled with É#CLICHECategory:Dutch terms spelled with ◌́#CLICHECategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:Dutch neuter nouns#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- a cliché
- an unoriginal work
- a printing plate, a stereotype
Derived terms
Descendants
French
Etymology
Past participle of clicher (“to stereotype, (originally) to copy”, literally “to click, clink”), from Middle FrenchCategory:French terms inherited from Middle French#CLICHECategory:French terms derived from Middle French#CLICHE clicher, from Old FrenchCategory:French terms inherited from Old French#CLICHECategory:French terms derived from Old French#CLICHE cliquer (“to click, clack, sound, resound”), of GermanicCategory:French terms derived from Germanic languages#CLICHE 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)Category:French lemmas#CLICHECategory:French nouns#CLICHECategory:French countable nouns#CLICHECategory:French entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:French masculine nouns#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- (printingCategory:fr:Printing#CLICHE) stereotype (printing plate)
- La reproduction dans la presse de dessins et de photographies se fait au moyen de clichés typographiques.Category:French terms with usage examples#CLICHE
- The reproduction in the press of drawings and photographs is done by means of typographical clichés.
- (photographyCategory:fr:Photography#CLICHE) negative
- (by extension) snapshot
- prendre un cliché ― take a snapshotCategory:French terms with usage examples#CLICHE
- (figurative) cliché; stereotype (overused phrase or expression)
- Synonyms: banalité, idée reçue, lieu commun, stéréotype
Descendants
- → Catalan: clixé
- → Czech: klišé
- → Danish: kliché, kliche
- → English: cliché
- → Estonian: klišee
- → Finnish: klisee
- → Galician: clixé
- → German: Klischee
- → Hungarian: klisé
- → Icelandic: klisja
- → Macedonian: клише́ (klišé)
- → Persian: کلیشه (keliše)
- → Portuguese: clichê, cliché (unadapted form)
- → Russian: клише́ (klišé)
- → Serbo-Croatian: klìšē/клѝше̄
- → Slovak: klišé
- → Slovene: kliše
- → Spanish: cliché
- → Turkish: klişe
Further reading
- “cliché”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Alternative forms
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from FrenchCategory:Italian terms borrowed from French#CLICHECategory:Italian unadapted borrowings from French#CLICHECategory:Italian terms derived from French#CLICHE cliché.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kliʃˈʃɛ/**, /kliʃˈʃe/**[1]Category:Italian 2-syllable words#CLICHECategory:Italian 2-syllable words#CLICHECategory:Italian terms with IPA pronunciation#CLICHE
- Rhymes: -ɛ, -eCategory:Rhymes:Italian/ɛ#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:Italian/ɛ/2 syllables#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:Italian/e#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:Italian/e/2 syllables#CLICHE
Noun
cliché m (invariable)Category:Italian lemmas#CLICHECategory:Italian nouns#CLICHECategory:Italian countable nouns#CLICHECategory:Italian indeclinable nouns#CLICHECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:Italian masculine nouns#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
References
- ↑ cliché in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)
Anagrams
Polish
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from FrenchCategory:Polish terms borrowed from French#CLICHÉCategory:Polish unadapted borrowings from French#CLICHÉCategory:Polish terms derived from French#CLICHÉ cliché. Doublet of kliszaCategory:Polish doublets#CLICHÉ.
Pronunciation
Noun
cliché n (indeclinable)Category:Polish lemmas#CLICHÉCategory:Polish nouns#CLICHÉCategory:Polish indeclinable nouns#CLICHÉCategory:Polish terms spelled with É#CLICHÉCategory:Polish entries with incorrect language header#CLICHÉCategory:Polish neuter nouns#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- (literaryCategory:Polish literary terms#CLICHÉ, rhetoricCategory:pl:Rhetoric#CLICHÉ) cliché (overused phrase or expression)
Further reading
- cliché in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Spanish
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from FrenchCategory:Spanish terms borrowed from French#CLICHECategory:Spanish terms derived from French#CLICHE cliché.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kliˈt͡ʃe/ [kliˈt͡ʃe]Category:Spanish 2-syllable words#CLICHECategory:Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation#CLICHE
- IPA(key): /kliˈʃe/ [kliˈʃe]Category:Spanish 2-syllable words#CLICHECategory:Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation#CLICHE
- Rhymes: -eCategory:Rhymes:Spanish/e#CLICHECategory:Rhymes:Spanish/e/2 syllables#CLICHE
- Syllabification: cli‧ché
Noun
cliché m (plural clichés)Category:Spanish lemmas#CLICHECategory:Spanish nouns#CLICHECategory:Spanish countable nouns#CLICHECategory:Spanish entries with incorrect language header#CLICHECategory:Spanish masculine nouns#CLICHECategory:Pages with entries#CLICHÉCategory:Pages with 6 entries#CLICHÉ
- (printingCategory:es:Printing#CLICHE) cliché
- (talking) cliché
- Synonym: tópico
Further reading
- “cliché”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024