as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
a screenplay that reads like a catalog of mystery-thriller tropes the narrative trope of two rival characters falling in love by the end of the story
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Recent Examples of tropes
These are, in fact, common tropes of fiction going at least as far back as Bernard Malamud’s novel The Natural.
—
Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2026
Buddy embraces the aesthetic of classic children’s television —complete with catchy songs and familiar tropes — before subverting it with a relentless descent into madness.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2026
Over the course of the afternoon, guests laughed about, grappled with, and sometimes politely skirted around the same gendered tropes that have existed for centuries, the conversation turning serious in some moments and silly in others.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 22 Apr. 2026
Paul, who co-created the Apple TV+ series and drew from season one for the musical’s script and score, performs a dexterous trick, poking fun at the form’s many ridiculous tropes with an unmistakably affectionate hand.
—Naveen Kumar, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026
Not in terms of the scale of its sets—we’ll leave that to the giant staircase in The Queen of Versailles, or whatever is going on with the flying vampires of The Lost Boys—but in terms of the most tropes crammed into one two-act stretch.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2026
This new flood of venture-capitalist-as-influencer platforms has promoted and naturalized a distinctive military-industrial idiom that closely—and strangely—apes certain twentieth-century artistic tropes.
—Simon Denny, Artforum, 20 Apr. 2026
Meet Kristina Phillips Interior Design Design studio Escala Forma isn’t afraid to lean all the way into the tropical tropes of its hometown mixing banana-leaf motifs, wicker furniture, and pastel pink in one particular project so that there’s absolutely no mistaking its location, Miami.
—Dan Howarth, Architectural Digest, 19 Apr. 2026
Indeed, the script is full of jokes about theatrical types and tropes.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Boris Kachka, The Atlantic, 24 Apr. 2026
Buddy embraces the aesthetic of classic children’s television —complete with catchy songs and familiar tropes — before subverting it with a relentless descent into madness.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 23 Apr. 2026
Over the course of the afternoon, guests laughed about, grappled with, and sometimes politely skirted around the same gendered tropes that have existed for centuries, the conversation turning serious in some moments and silly in others.
—Savannah Walsh, Vanity Fair, 22 Apr. 2026
Paul, who co-created the Apple TV+ series and drew from season one for the musical’s script and score, performs a dexterous trick, poking fun at the form’s many ridiculous tropes with an unmistakably affectionate hand.
—Naveen Kumar, Variety, 21 Apr. 2026
Not in terms of the scale of its sets—we’ll leave that to the giant staircase in The Queen of Versailles, or whatever is going on with the flying vampires of The Lost Boys—but in terms of the most tropes crammed into one two-act stretch.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2026
This new flood of venture-capitalist-as-influencer platforms has promoted and naturalized a distinctive military-industrial idiom that closely—and strangely—apes certain twentieth-century artistic tropes.
—Simon Denny, Artforum, 20 Apr. 2026
Meet Kristina Phillips Interior Design Design studio Escala Forma isn’t afraid to lean all the way into the tropical tropes of its hometown mixing banana-leaf motifs, wicker furniture, and pastel pink in one particular project so that there’s absolutely no mistaking its location, Miami.
—Dan Howarth, Architectural Digest, 19 Apr. 2026
Indeed, the script is full of jokes about theatrical types and tropes.
—Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 17 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tropes
Noun
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The play isn’t subtle; the final sequence leans hard on truisms about addiction and trauma, which are affecting but overly explicit.—
Sheldon Pearce,
New Yorker,
20 Feb. 2026
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One of the truisms in the past for Team Canada at some best-on-best events is needing a few games to find its game.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
12 Feb. 2026
Noun
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His daughter, Lisa Rodriguez, said he was known for his loud sense of style — his favorite shirt had a rainbow tiger on it — and his funny sayings.—
Kendrick Calfee,
Kansas City Star,
22 Apr. 2026
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The chef wrote around 40 sayings and gathered more from his Instagram followers.—
CNN.com Wire Service,
Mercury News,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Neville is smart enough as a documentarian to leave out platitudes, but also to let access to Michaels’ Maine retreat be a vibe rather than some knockout reveal.—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Apr. 2026
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But for UConn, the platitudes feel profoundly honest.—
Emily Adams,
Hartford Courant,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tropes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tropes. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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