cliché

See also: Cliché, cliche, clichê, and cliche'

English

Alternative forms

• cliche

Etymology

Borrowed from French cliché.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkliːʃeɪ/
• Rhymes: -iːʃeɪ
• (US) enPR: klē-shāʹ, IPA^(key): /kliˈʃeɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪ
• Hyphenation: cli‧ché

Noun

cliché (plural clichés)

1. 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.

   I know it's a bit of a cliché, but love really does conquer all.

   • 2003, “The Package”, performed by A Perfect Circle:

     Clever got me this far
     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 ways

2. (printing) A stereotype (printing plate).

Usage notes

• The alternative spelling cliche may be used without confusion, as there is no other word in English with this spelling. (Contrast résumé, resumé.)

Derived terms

• clichéd
• clichély
• cliché-ridden
• cliché-verre
• thought-terminating cliché
• tired cliché

 

Related terms

• click

 

Translations

overused phrase or expression

• Catalan: clixé m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 陳詞濫調 / 陈词滥调 (zh) (chéncílàndiào), 老生常談 / 老生常谈 (zh) (lǎoshēngchángtán), 老套 (zh) (lǎotào)

• Czech: klišé (cs) n
• Dutch: cliché (nl) n, gemeenplaats (nl) f, platitude (nl) f
• Esperanto: kliŝo (eo)
• Finnish: klisee (fi), latteus (fi)
• French: cliché (fr) m, poncif (fr) m, lieu commun (fr) m
• Galician: cliché (gl) m
• Georgian: კლიშე (ḳliše)
• German: Klischee (de) n, Gemeinplatz (de) m, Stereotyp (de) n, Banalität (de) f, Abgedroschenheit f, Plattheit (de) f, Floskel (de) f
• Greek: κλισέ (el) n (klisé), στερεότυπο (el) n (stereótypo)
• Hebrew: קלישאה (he) f (qlišaa)
• Hungarian: klisé (hu), közhely (hu)
• Icelandic: klisja (is) f, tugga f (rare), gömul tugga f
• Ido: klishuro (io)
• Indonesian: klise (id)
• Italian: cliché (it) m
• Japanese: 決まり文句 (ja) (kimari monku)
• Latin: platitudo f
• Malay: klise
• Maori: (kupu) rārahu
• Norwegian: klisjé (no) n
• Occitan: cliché (oc) m, ponciu m, lòc comun (oc)
• Persian: کلیشه (fa) (kliše)
• Polish: frazes (pl) m, komunał (pl) m, banał (pl) m, sztampa f
• Portuguese: clichê (pt) m, lugar-comum m, chavão (pt) m, platitude (pt) f
• Romanian: clișeu (ro) n
• Russian: клише́ (ru) n (klišé), штамп (ru) m (štamp)
• Serbo-Croatian: kliše (sh) m
• Slovak: fráza f
• Spanish: cliché (es) m, clisé (es) m, tópico (es) m, clishé m
• Swedish: kliché (sv) c, klyscha (sv) c
• Tagalog: gasgas
• Turkish: klişe (tr)
• Vietnamese: sáo ngữ (vi)
• Welsh: ystrydeb f

anything (other than a phrase) that is overused

• Catalan: clixé m
• Esperanto: kliŝo (eo)
• Finnish: klisee (fi)
• French: platitude (fr), lieu commun (fr)
• Galician: cliché (gl) m
• German: Klischee (de) n, Versatzstück (de) n
• Greek: στερεότυπο (el) n (stereótypo)
• Hebrew: קלישאה (he) f
• Ido: klishuro (io)
• Indonesian: klise (id)
• Portuguese: clichê (pt) m
• Russian: клише́ (ru) n (klišé), штамп (ru) m (štamp)
• Serbo-Croatian: kliše (sh) m
• Spanish: tópico (es) m
• Tagalog: gasgas
• Turkish: klişe (tr)
• Welsh: ystrydeb f

Adjective

cliché (comparative more cliché, superlative most cliché)

1. (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)

1. (transitive, intransitive) 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^[1]:

     He clichéd at me. He clichéd at me in a perky, condescending tone.

Anagrams

• chicle

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French cliché.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kliˈʃeː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: cli‧ché
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

cliché n (plural clichés, diminutive clicheetje n)

1. a cliché
2. an unoriginal work
3. a printing plate, a stereotype

Derived terms

• clichématig

Descendants

• Afrikaans: cliché
• → Indonesian: klise

French

Etymology

Past participle of clicher (“to stereotype, (originally) to copy”, literally “to click, clink”), from Middle French clicher, from Old French cliquer (“to click, clack, sound, resound”), of Germanic 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

• IPA^(key): /kli.ʃe/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

cliché m (plural clichés)

1. (printing) stereotype (printing plate)

   La reproduction dans la presse de dessins et de photographies se fait au moyen de clichés typographiques.

   The reproduction in the press of drawings and photographs is done by means of typographical clichés.

2. (photography) negative
3. (by extension) snapshot

   prendre un cliché ― take a snapshot

4. (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

• cliscè

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French cliché.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kliʃˈʃɛ/^**, /kliʃˈʃe/^**
• Rhymes: -ɛ, -e

Noun

cliché m (invariable)

1. plate (printing)
2. cliché

Anagrams

• lecchi

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French cliché. Doublet of klisza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kliˈʂɛ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛ
• Syllabification: cli‧ché

Noun

cliché n (indeclinable)

1. (literary, rhetoric) cliché (overused phrase or expression)

   Synonyms: klisza, szablon

Further reading

• cliché in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Alternative forms

• clisé

Etymology

Borrowed from French cliché.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kliˈt͡ʃe/ [kliˈt͡ʃe]
• IPA^(key): /kliˈʃe/ [kliˈʃe]
• Rhymes: -e
• Syllabification: cli‧ché

Noun

cliché m (plural clichés)

1. (printing) cliché
2. (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], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• chicle