hackneyed

The closest synonyms for hackneyed are trite and banal. All three words suggest that something has become stale or dull due to overuse—that it has become clichéd due to being done to death.

Synonyms that focus on overuse include overused, overdone, worn out, and well-worn. Other synonyms include commonplace and unoriginal.

The word threadbare is used in a literal way to describe worn-out clothes, but it can also be used in a figurative way to mean hackneyed. The word shopworn can mean the same thing.

Hackneyed comes from the word hackney, referring to a carriage for hire (also called a hackney coach) or the kind of horse used to pull such a carriage. The word was also once used to refer to a person hired to do menial work, leading to the term hack, meaning someone, such as an artist or writer, who produces hackneyed work. The word hackney itself comes from the placename Hackney, a borough of London.

Hackneyed suggests something that is overdone. The opposite of this would be something truly new, fresh, and original. Be careful, though—calling something fresh or original can sound a bit hackneyed!

Hackneyed is especially used to describe overused expressions or unoriginal works of art or elements of them, such as the plot of a movie or an overdone joke.

Here are some examples of hackneyed in a sentence:

• His leadership style depended on spouting hackneyed phrases like “blue sky thinking” and “bleeding edge.”
• The mystery novel was so hackneyed that I had it figured out by the end of the first chapter.
• I never know what to write in a sympathy card—everything feels so hackneyed and trite.