as in cliche
used or heard so often as to be dull
the shopworn suggestion to job applicants to "just be yourself"
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of shopworn
So much of his work seems dull, shopworn, generic.
—
James Marcus, The New Yorker, 1 June 2020
Carson said — 50 times Carson’s office, on a quiet street in downtown Modesto, was gritty and shopworn and functional in feel.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2021
If your listing has become shopworn, look at reducing the price or offering incentives.
—John Nugent, Houston Chronicle, 4 July 2020
See All Example Sentences for shopworn
James Marcus, The New Yorker, 1 June 2020
Carson said — 50 times Carson’s office, on a quiet street in downtown Modesto, was gritty and shopworn and functional in feel.
—Los Angeles Times, 27 June 2021
If your listing has become shopworn, look at reducing the price or offering incentives.
—John Nugent, Houston Chronicle, 4 July 2020
See All Example Sentences for shopworn
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shopworn
Adjective
-
Tragedies can be examined by those outside of its sphere of destruction, but the groundswell of feeling from Mexican viewers and critics is that there was little or no care taken to understand the cultural grief beyond stereotyped spectacle.—
Lucy Ford,
TIME,
24 Jan. 2025
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Founded by artists who grew up in Maryvale, Salcido said the purpose of Labor is to be the bridge that shows the artistic capacity and potential of Maryvale because the neighborhood is too often stereotyped, underrepresented and ignored.—
David Ulloa Jr,
The Arizona Republic,
6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
Sleep deprivation comes with real costs Chronic sleep deprivation does more than leave people tired.—
Joanna Fong-Isariyawongse,
The Conversation,
7 Mar. 2025
-
Markets grow tired of tariff changes U.S. stocks tumbled Thursday on tariff flip-flop fatigue.—
Yeo Boon Ping,
CNBC,
7 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
The movie’s a little more hackneyed and obvious now, but its central idea is still an undeniably creepy one: possessed children with pitchforks.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
-
Which is a nauseatingly hackneyed and clichéd — not to mention stupefyingly reductive — type of statement to make about any kind of art or entertainment, of course.—
Andrew Unterberger,
Billboard,
3 Sep. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Shopworn.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shopworn. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
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