Discover what a cliché is in the English language, why overused expressions lose their impact, and how to avoid tired phrases to improve your modern writing style.
What Is a Cliché in English Grammar?
Clichés are expressions which were once colorful and original but have been used too frequently and thus have lost all their newness and effectiveness. They're akin to platitudes. Every expression which is overused in a particular field becomes a cliché in that field. Consequently, there are clichés in almost every field of knowledge and work—in business, in film industry, in games and others.
Some clichés of the English language are as follows.
- Abdicating our responsibilities
- accidentally on purpose
- according to plan
- act of contrition
- acid test
- add insult to injury
- all at sea
- all in the same boat
- all over bar the shouting
- all things considered
- almost too good to be true
- arms of Morpheus
- angel of mercy
- angry silence
- as black as coal/ink
- as blind as a bat
- as bold as a lion.
- as busy as a bee
- as cold as ice
- as cunning as a fox
- as dead as a dodo
- as deaf as a post
- as free as a bird
- as fresh as a rose
- as gay as a lark
- as gentle as a lamb
- as hard as iron/rock/steel
- as heavy as lead
- as hoarse as a crow
- as light as air
- as light as a feather
- as luck/fate would have it
- as sure as eggs is eggs
- at the end of the day
- at this point in time at your peril
- auspicious occasion avid reader
Bad Omens and Common Phrases
- bag and baggage
- ball and chain (marital)
- barometer of the economy
- bat an eyelid
- batten down the hatches
- battle lines being drawn
- beavering away
- between a rock and a hard place
- between the Devil and the deep blue sea
- beware the Greek bearing gifts
- (the) bird has flown
- bit of a bombshell
- blanket coverage
- bleed them white
- blind drunk.
- blind leading the blind
- blinkered view
- blissful harmony
- blissful ignorance
- (my) blood boiled
- blood out of a stone
- bloody but unbowed
- blot on the landscape
- blow the whistle
- (it) bodes ill
- bored to death
- (the) bubble burst
- borrowed time
- brought to book
- bruising battle/encounter
- bumper-to-bumper traffic jams
- burden of proof but I digress
- Call of the wild
- call the shots/tune
- callow youth
- calm before the storm.
- came in from the cold
- camp as a row of tents
- captive audience
- card up his sleeve
- cards stacked against
- cardinal sin
- carrot-and-stick treatment
- carte blanche cast of thousands
- cast the first stone
- (given a) clean bill of health
- catalogue of misfortune/misery
- cat among the pigeons
- Catch-22 situation
- catholic taste cauotic comment
- cautious optimism
- centre of his universe
- chain of events
- (as different as) chalk and cheese
- chapter and verse
- cherished belief
- chew the cud
- chew the cud
- chew the fat
- chip off the old block
- chop and change
- chorus of approval/disapproval
- chosen few
- come to the crunch
- complete and utter candour
- compulsive viewing
- conspicuous by his absence
- consummation devoutly to be wished
- cool as a cucumber
- cool, calm and collected copious notes
- crack of dawn
- crisis of confidence
- cup of sorrow runneth over current climate
- cut any ice
- Damn with faint praise
- Dark Continent
- dark horse
- dark secret
- deadly accurate
- deafening silence
- deaf to entreaties
- deep gloom
- depths of depravity
- despite misgivings
- devour every word
- dicing with death
- dirty raincoat brigade.
- doom and gloom merchants
- drives me up the wall
- (wearing the) Dunce's cap
- Eagerly devour
- enjoy the fleshpots (to my)
- eternal shame
- eternally in your/my/their debt
- eternal regret
- evening of our lives
- every man jack of them
- every stage of the game
- Face the music
- fair sex
- feed the Inner Man
- few and far between
- (the) final insult
- fine-tooth comb
- finger in every pie finger of suspicion
- fit as a fiddle
- follow like sheep fond belief
- fraught with danger/peril frenzy of activity
- fresh fields and pastures new
- fudge the issue
- Generous to a fault
- gentle giant gentler sex
- glowing tribute
- golden opportunity
- go to the ends of the earth
- ground to a halt
- green with envy
- guardian angel
- Hand-to-mouth existence
- happy accident
- happy medium happily/comfortably ensconced
- having said that heaping ridicule
- hear and soul
- hell hath no fury
- (come) hell or high water
- high and dry
- hit the panic button
- hive of activity
- Hobson's choice
- hoist with his own petard
- horns of a dilemma
- horses for courses
- howling gale/tempest
- Ill-gotten gains ill-starred venture
- (the) impossible dream
- inch-by-inch search
- inordinate amount of
- it seemed an eternity
- it will all end in tears
- (one/not one) iota
- I must fly
- Just not on
- Keep your head above water
- keep your own counsel
- knocked into a cocked hat
- lavish ceremony/banquet/hospitality/praise little the wiser
- Lack-lustre performance
- large as life
- leave no stone unturned
- leave no avenue unexplored
- level playing field lick his wounds
- little local difficulty
- living in the Dark Ages
- long arm of the law.
- long hot summer lost cause
- lost in admiration
- lost in contemplation
- love you and leave you
- Made of sterner stuff
- make a killing
- man of straw circumlocution
- more honoured in the breach than in the observance
- method in his madness Midas touch
- (the) mind boggles
- mixed blessing (worse still, not an unmixed blessing-see
- (a) model of its kind
- more in sorrow than in anger
- more sinned against than sinning
- mortgaged up to the hilt
- move the goalposts
- much-needed reforms
- Necessity is the mother of invention
- no peace for the wicked
- not a scrap of evidence
- not to put too fine a point upon it
- Offer he couldn't refuse
- operative word
- own worst enemy
- older and wiser olive branch
- one fell swoop
- Package of measures
- painstaking investigation
- palpable nonsense
- part and parcel path of virtue
- pinpoint accuracy
- plain as a pikestaff
- press on regardless
- prime candidate
- plain as the nose on your face
- poison/ed chalice
- pomp and circumstance
- pure as the driven snow (when/if)
- push comes to shove
- Resounding silence rings a bell
- roll out the red carpet
- rose between two thorns
- ruffled feathers
- (one) rotten apple in a barrel
- Sale of the century
- search high and low
- set in stone
- shake the dust from their feet
- seething cauldron
- ring The Modern War
- shot across the bows
- simmering hatred
- skin of our teeth
- snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
- snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
- solid as a rock
- sorely needed isolation
- splendid spoken for
- standing ovation
- stick to our guns
- steady as a rock
- stir up a hornets nest
- straight and narrow
- strain every nerve
- strange as it may seem
- strange to relate
- strapping great fellow
- straw that broke the camel's back
- strike a chord
- stuff and nonsense
- suffer in silence
- suffer fools gladly
- sugar the pill
- Tarred with the same brush
- technological wizardry
- tender mercies
- there, but for the grace of God
- this day and age
- thunderous applause
- time files
- time heals all ills/wounds
- time waits for no man
- (in a) time warp
- tip of the iceberg
- tireless campaigner/crusader
- tissue of lies
- to all intents and purposes
- to my dying day
- to my utter chagrin
- too awful/terrible/horrible to contemplate
- too many cooks
- torrential rain
- towering inferno
- tower of strength
- Utter bilge
- ultra-sophisticated
- (take an) unconscionable time
- unequal task
- up to his neck in bebt/in it
- Wages of sin
- wash my hands of it
- (all) water under the bridge
- wealth of evidence/experience/knowledge/material
- whisked to hospital
- wedded bliss
- welter of evidence
- wheels within wheels
- (idea/man/political party) whose time has come
- winter of discontent
- with a vengeance
- without a shadow of doubt
- without fear of contradiction
- wringing of hands
Dictionaries of cliche's, however, are available. It's a good practice to consult such a list or dictionary while editing or revising the writing to ensure that such worn-out expressions aren't used frequently, if ever.
Should Clichés Die Unused?
So, should such expessions die unsused?-you might ask. Actually, they're already dead. Yet it's not that you can't use them at all. You can. Sparingly. And it's best to limit their use in conversations in stories, novels, dramas, and cases.
One interesting point. Those whose mother tongue is not English or those who don't learn English as the first language can't perceive these expressions as clichés. To them such expessions don't seem to be old and colorless. In other words, they can't simply understand that these expressions are clichés. It's because there is nothing in clichés to be understood; rather, they're to be felt and experienced. If something is not used at all, how can it be overused? So it's best for non-English-speakers to refer to lists e the above one or other dictionaries, to ensure that clichés don't creep in while they write something.
With time and owing to too much use, proverbs, epigrams, or other pithy quotations also become clichés.
The following are some examples.
- Fools rush in (where angels fear to tread.)
- Lend me your ears.
- Damn with faint praise
- To be or not to be, etc.
How Do Letter-Writing Formats Become Clichés?
Many formats and patterns of letter-writing and of public speeches have become clichés. For example:
- Your letter is to hand. I beg to state that
- I have the honor to state that
- We attach herewith
- May I draw your attention to
- This is to notify all concerned that
- I remain Sir
- This is to certify that --
- We, therefore, hope and pray that....
- With due respect and humble submission we beg to state that
- Under these circumstances...
- No more today.
- I solicit the hospitality of ...
These expressions have lost their newness and strength. Now taking a "typical" old-modeled letter in your hand, you can easily say (without reading it) what it begins and ends with. That means the format has become a "type" and so it's predictable. And predictability of a piece of writing is perhaps the worst flaw of it (if, however, it's not a routine work guided by a "prescribed" format such as memos, audit reports etc.). So, it's better not to use the above expressions in letters. Find out other ways to begin and end your letters. (You may, among other available books, consult "Writers' Grammar" by this author.)
How to Avoid Trite Openings in Writing
The way you begin your letter, essay, or story can also be trite and as such can be called a cliché. Those days are gone when most stories were written with a beginning of this kind :
Once upon a time..
Stories for children are still being written with such a beginning, but it's limited to that purpose only. Again, letter-beginnings like the following are clichés :
- We, the students of... beg most
- We, the inhabitants of...
- Take my cordial love...
- Thank you for your letter.
- Today I'm writing you with a heavy heart.
- I received your letter in time. I am very glad to receive your letter on..
- In response to your advertisement published in ... dated ...
- With reference to your memo No ...
True, no cliché has been used in these beginnings. Why should we reject them, then? As a matter of fact, we should reject them simply because the types of the beginnings have become clichés Hundreds of thousands of letters have been and are still being written with such "typical" beginnings. So, it's time we rejected these patterns. Not that you can't use the above sentences in your letters. You can. But why in the beginning? Use them if you will but somewhere else. not in the beginning.
Student essays also tend to be "patterned" in the beginning as well as in the ending. Most often it's found that if students are asked to write an essay on any topic whatever, they start it off with a definition. But why such typed beginning always? There are some scientific and objective cases needing such a beginning. True. But those special cases should not govern all other cases. As with the beginning, so with the ending. Most letters end with :
- No more today ...
- I/we, therefore, hope and pray. I shall be obliged if you ...
- Thanking you...
- So, that's the end of the story ...
- Thanking you in advance ...
These expressions are used all too often. So, it's better not to use them frequently, if ever.
Like phrases, expressions, beginnings, and endings, ideas also can become clichés. And they do! So, watch out! Your greetings can also become clichés. So, be careful. Your manner of speaking and presentation can also become clichés. So, judge yourself. Judge others. Even, judge your judgments!
Key Takeaways
- Clichés are overused expressions that have lost their original color, effectiveness, and newness.
- Non-native speakers may not instinctively perceive clichés as old or colorless because they need to be felt rather than understood.
- Proverbs, epigrams, letter-writing formats, story beginnings, and essay openings can all degrade into predictable clichés over time.
- To maintain modern and engaging writing styles, limit the use of clichés and avoid predictable structural patterns.
Quick Practice
Share your answers in the comments below:
- Can you identify three common clichés from your everyday writing and replace them with fresh phrasing?
- Why do non-native speakers find it harder to recognize clichés automatically?
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a cliché in English?
A cliché is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been used so often that it has lost its original origin, novelty, and impact.
Why should writers avoid clichés?
Overuse makes writing predictable and dull, which is considered one of the worst flaws in modern composition, letter-writing, and storytelling.
Can non-native speakers use clichés without knowing it?
Yes, because non-native speakers may not perceive these expressions as old or colorless, making it essential to consult specialized dictionaries and lists.