A cliché is an expression that was once novel, vivid, or effective but has lost its expressive force through excessive repetition. Parameters: (1) an original phrase or formulation that carried distinctive meaning, (2) repeated use across speakers or texts, (3) degradation of impact — the expression no longer evokes what it once did, (4) recognizability — speakers identify it as trite or overused. The cliché persists as a shared linguistic resource: speakers deploy it because its meaning is transparent and uncontroversial, even as it has surrendered its expressive power. [formal: cliché | substrate: mind | horizon: a life | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]
Accepted ontology entry
cliché
A cliché is an expression that was once novel, vivid, or effective but has lost its expressive force through excessive repetition. Parameters: (1) an original phrase or formulation that carried distinctive meaning, (2) repeated use across…
Definition
Why it is in scope
A cliché is a human-made linguistic construct: an expression that was once novel or effective but has lost its expressive force through excessive repetition. It exists purely within language, discourse, and communication practice — the territory of actual repeated speech is not the cliché itself; the category of 'overused expression' that speakers recognize and deploy is the construct. Persistence mechanism: language usage, social recognition, cultural memory.
Names and aliases
- clichéen · CANONICAL
Relations from this entry
- cmrhjgg5901ss8aehos99jymeINSTANCE_OF →
a cliché is a specific kind of convention — a conventionally accepted but worn-out expression or idea. The 'X is a kind of Y' test holds cleanly.
- cmr784qq1000ks126wltnuaxhDEPENDS_ON →
cliché is a linguistic phenomenon — a worn-out expression that depends on language for its existence. Without language, there are no expressions, no wear, no clichés. Constitutive DEPENDS_ON to language.
Relations to this entry
No accepted relations in this direction.
Record identity
- Created
- Jul 20, 2026, 8:19 AM UTC
- Content hash
- 24d82ab7997295d22310b1a93dd595edad927466d5e3e2bae3565463bb866421