Hackneyed
adjective
Overused and not interesting or effective anymore.
His speech included a hackneyed empty promise for a bright future.
Often appears as...
- hackneyed phrase
- hackneyed cliches
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Overused and not interesting or effective anymore.
His speech included a hackneyed empty promise for a bright future.
Often appears as...
- hackneyed phrase
- hackneyed cliches
Usage tips
Disapproving
Definition 1 of 1
Pro Tip 1/3Avoid in Innovation
In creative work, using 'hackneyed' concepts might make the work seem unoriginal.
The artist's hackneyed approach made the gallery less interesting.
Pro Tip 2/3Use with Caution
'Hackneyed' often has a negative connotation, suggesting a lack of creativity or freshness.
Her hackneyed term paper received a low grade for its lack of originality.
Pro Tip 3/3Recognize Saturation
Phrases become 'hackneyed' when they're overused in certain contexts or genres, such as romance or horror.
The hackneyed 'dark and stormy night' beginning is too common in horror stories.
Pro Tip 1/3Avoid in Innovation
In creative work, using 'hackneyed' concepts might make the work seem unoriginal.
The artist's hackneyed approach made the gallery less interesting.
Pro Tip 2/3Use with Caution
'Hackneyed' often has a negative connotation, suggesting a lack of creativity or freshness.
Her hackneyed term paper received a low grade for its lack of originality.
Pro Tip 3/3Recognize Saturation
Phrases become 'hackneyed' when they're overused in certain contexts or genres, such as romance or horror.
The hackneyed 'dark and stormy night' beginning is too common in horror stories.
Pro Tip 1/3Avoid in Innovation
In creative work, using 'hackneyed' concepts might make the work seem unoriginal.
The artist's hackneyed approach made the gallery less interesting.
Pro Tip 2/3Use with Caution
'Hackneyed' often has a negative connotation, suggesting a lack of creativity or freshness.
Her hackneyed term paper received a low grade for its lack of originality.
Pro Tip 3/3Recognize Saturation
Phrases become 'hackneyed' when they're overused in certain contexts or genres, such as romance or horror.
The hackneyed 'dark and stormy night' beginning is too common in horror stories.
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Video examples
Paula Scher: Great...
turning out these sorts of designs that I was expected to do because that's who I was, and I was living in this cycle of going from serious to solemn to hackneyed to dead, and getting rediscovered all over again. So, here was the second condition
Video examples
Paula Scher: Great...
turning out these sorts of designs that I was expected to do because that's who I was, and I was living in this cycle of going from serious to solemn to hackneyed to dead, and getting rediscovered all over again. So, here was the second condition
Example 1 of 1
Quote examples
Steven Millhauser
American Novelist
What I dislike is conventional realism - a system of gestures, descriptions, psychological revelations that was once a vital way of representing the world but has become hackneyed through endless repetition. I'd argue that a conventional realist isn't a realist at all, but a falsifier of the real.
Quote examples
Alastair Reynolds
British Author
No idea should be discarded completely, but - as one might imagine - it does take a degree of ingenuity to find a new spin on something as hackneyed as the 'Adam and Eve' story. But if you think you've got the chops for it, there's no reason not to try.
Quote examples
Lucy Dacus
American Musician
Writing has never been an intentional endeavor to me. I know a lot of people have experiences and then sit down and try to sort them out through song, but whenever I sit down to write, it comes out hackneyed or overly saccharine.
Quote examples
Michael Feinstein
American Musician
As hackneyed and cliche as it sounds, follow your heart. We are all given intuition and instincts, and sometimes it is hard to follow those instincts with the fears and pressures that surround us - but you have to do it.
Quote examples
Jeff Lindsay
American Playwright
I question every word; I write 'the' and immediately feel scorn. It's such an ordinary word - everybody uses it - why can't I come up with something original? In the sunlight, every single word seems hackneyed.
Quote examples
Victoria Strauss
American Author
Pay it forward' has become a hackneyed concept, but I truly believe in it, and it gives me huge satisfaction to be able to help writers in a measurable way.
Quote examples
Iain Sinclair
British Writer
Hackney at certain epochs has given itself suburban airs and graces, before being slapped down and consigned once more to the dump bin of aborted ambition.
Quote examples
Victoria Coren Mitchell
English Writer
Women are under-represented in TV comedy for a variety of reasons, the hackneyed 'fear that women aren't funny' being one of them.
Quote examples
Sharon Horgan
Irish Actress
Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my neighbours.
Quote examples
Mike Birbiglia
American Comedian
Alienation, I suppose, can't be hackneyed because it will always exist.
Quote examples
Steven Millhauser
American Novelist
What I dislike is conventional realism - a system of gestures, descriptions, psychological revelations that was once a vital way of representing the world but has become hackneyed through endless repetition. I'd argue that a conventional realist isn't a realist at all, but a falsifier of the real.
Quote examples
Alastair Reynolds
British Author
No idea should be discarded completely, but - as one might imagine - it does take a degree of ingenuity to find a new spin on something as hackneyed as the 'Adam and Eve' story. But if you think you've got the chops for it, there's no reason not to try.
Quote examples
Lucy Dacus
American Musician
Writing has never been an intentional endeavor to me. I know a lot of people have experiences and then sit down and try to sort them out through song, but whenever I sit down to write, it comes out hackneyed or overly saccharine.
Quote examples
Michael Feinstein
American Musician
As hackneyed and cliche as it sounds, follow your heart. We are all given intuition and instincts, and sometimes it is hard to follow those instincts with the fears and pressures that surround us - but you have to do it.
Quote examples
Jeff Lindsay
American Playwright
I question every word; I write 'the' and immediately feel scorn. It's such an ordinary word - everybody uses it - why can't I come up with something original? In the sunlight, every single word seems hackneyed.
Quote examples
Victoria Strauss
American Author
Pay it forward' has become a hackneyed concept, but I truly believe in it, and it gives me huge satisfaction to be able to help writers in a measurable way.
Quote examples
Iain Sinclair
British Writer
Hackney at certain epochs has given itself suburban airs and graces, before being slapped down and consigned once more to the dump bin of aborted ambition.
Quote examples
Victoria Coren Mitchell
English Writer
Women are under-represented in TV comedy for a variety of reasons, the hackneyed 'fear that women aren't funny' being one of them.
Quote examples
Sharon Horgan
Irish Actress
Hackney gets a bit of a bad rap, but it's the only place I've ever lived that felt like a community. I know my neighbours.
Quote examples
Mike Birbiglia
American Comedian
Alienation, I suppose, can't be hackneyed because it will always exist.
Example 1 of 10
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