as in cliche
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
ended his letter with the overused truism, "You can't win them all!"
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Recent Examples of truism
The truism has it that most great New York magazine editors come from away—from the West or the Midwest or across the Atlantic—and arrive with an ability to see what natives don’t.
—
Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
The episode, though, underscored the truism that the papacy is a matter of general public knowledge, interest and debate here, and that speculating about the pope’s current health and who might be next is a national pastime.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Murphy is now closing in on 200 senior appearances for Newcastle which isn’t bad, all things considered, and the last blissful month has only served to reinforce an old truism that the best teams are not always formed of the players who glitter most.
—George Caulkin, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
This truism sits at the very heart of Republicans' fight over a grand budget deal.
—Axios, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for truism
Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, 15 Mar. 2025
The episode, though, underscored the truism that the papacy is a matter of general public knowledge, interest and debate here, and that speculating about the pope’s current health and who might be next is a national pastime.
—Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2025
Murphy is now closing in on 200 senior appearances for Newcastle which isn’t bad, all things considered, and the last blissful month has only served to reinforce an old truism that the best teams are not always formed of the players who glitter most.
—George Caulkin, The Athletic, 6 Jan. 2025
This truism sits at the very heart of Republicans' fight over a grand budget deal.
—Axios, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for truism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for truism
Noun
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During his two-minute tribute, Dr. Robby — who’s suffering from acute existential exhaustion on top of the day’s extra-fine grind — falls back on a handful of cliches.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
11 Apr. 2025
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The song, the first disco hit and an indelible gay anthem, here feels like a pandering cliche.—
Christian Lewis,
Variety,
28 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Wednesday's bizarre, inexact, and amorphous Rose Garden rally was a series of endless platitudes.—
Jason D. Greenblatt,
MSNBC Newsweek,
2 Apr. 2025
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The Portuguese novelist José Saramago is a master of such ironies, in which a narrator’s bland clichés and platitudes hang in the air, neither quite owned nor quite disavowed, waiting to be ironized by the action of the novel.—
James Wood,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Luxury scented candles, like room sprays for that matter, have the power to elevate any moment: taking it from commonplace to utterly indulgent.—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
26 Mar. 2025
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The Grand Ole Opry House holds 4,400 people, but can’t accommodate standing-room tours, a commonplace in genres like EDM and hip-hop.—
Matthew Leimkuehler,
Forbes,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
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But Bluey’s comforted when Calypso tells her a proverb about a farmer who trusts everything will turn out the way it’s meant to be.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
26 Mar. 2025
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Whitaker nicknamed the place Sparrow Hall, a reference to a medieval saint’s proverb about a sparrow who flies over a royal banquet, feeling only a brief moment of warmth.—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
17 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Truism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/truism. Accessed 25 Apr. 2025.
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