French Conversation · Level 41
75 words
French word
cliché
Pronunciation
IPA/kliʃe/
Meaning
- masculine nouncliche
Example
Cette idée est un cliché.
This idea is a cliche.
More examples
Il faut éviter les clichés pour être plus convaincant.
You should avoid trite expressions to be more convincing.
Core concept
A worn-out phrase or image repeated until it feels predictable and unoriginal.
Common phrases
un cliché
a trite expression
des clichés
trite expressions
éviter le cliché
avoid the trite expression
Similar words
lieu commun: A commonplace expression lacking freshness or originality.
formule toute faite: A fixed, well-worn phrase or way of putting something.
banalité: An ordinary expression or idea with nothing particularly new about it.
Definition in French
Formule ou image répétée au point de paraître stéréotypée et sans originalité.
Word origin
Cliché began as a French printing term for a plate that reproduced the same text or image, then acquired its figurative sense of a worn-out expression or image.
Usage tips
- Cliché is masculine in French: un cliché and ce cliché.
Other meanings
- stereotypenoun
Opposites
- originalitéoriginalitynoun
- authenticitéauthenticitynoun