as in cliche
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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of trope
Escala Forma Miami’s tropical tropes are all used at once, and to great effect, within this living room by local studio Escala Forma.
—
Dan Howarth, Architectural Digest, 28 Apr. 2025
The first half is telling the love story that on the surface it’s meant to be about, which draws people in — using all of the tropes of romantic stories at the pop culture level.
—Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2025
Bark’s set-building wizardry puts him in conversation with artists such as Jeff Wall or Gregory Crewdson, whose early work shares certain tropes with Bark’s still lifes, among them dead or taxidermied animals.
—Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2025
Birth rate declines have also been prominent tropes for white supremacist mass shooters, including the shooter who killed 51 Muslim people and wounded 40 others at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
—Lisa Hagen, NPR, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trope
Dan Howarth, Architectural Digest, 28 Apr. 2025
The first half is telling the love story that on the surface it’s meant to be about, which draws people in — using all of the tropes of romantic stories at the pop culture level.
—Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 27 Apr. 2025
Bark’s set-building wizardry puts him in conversation with artists such as Jeff Wall or Gregory Crewdson, whose early work shares certain tropes with Bark’s still lifes, among them dead or taxidermied animals.
—Chris Wiley, New Yorker, 26 Apr. 2025
Birth rate declines have also been prominent tropes for white supremacist mass shooters, including the shooter who killed 51 Muslim people and wounded 40 others at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.
—Lisa Hagen, NPR, 25 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trope
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trope
Noun
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The old cliche about a blind squirrel seems apropos for this group.—
Josh Kendall,
The Athletic,
25 Mar. 2025
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All while staying far, far away from the tropes and cliches associated with your typical medical drama.—
Rachel Elspeth Gross,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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All the players corroborate a truism: Politics attracts deformed personalities featuring an insatiable lust of power for the sake of power to fuel self-esteem.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
1 May 2025
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Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s Warfare is an admirable attempt to counter the truism that there’s no such thing as an anti-war movie — that all war movies, however gruesome or wrenching, effectively (and often unwittingly) wind up glamorizing combat to some degree.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trope.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trope. Accessed 16 May. 2025.
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