trope

1 of 2

noun

ˈtrōp 

1

a

: a word or expression used in a figurative sense : figure of speech

b

: a common or overused theme or device : cliché

the usual horror movie tropes

2

: a phrase or verse added as an embellishment or interpolation to the sung parts of the Mass in the Middle Ages

-trope

2 of 2

noun combining form

: body characterized by (such) a state

allotrope

Synonyms

Noun

• banality
• bromide
• chestnut
• cliché
• cliche
• commonplace
• groaner
• homily
• platitude
• shibboleth
• truism

Examples of trope in a Sentence

Noun

a screenplay that reads like a catalog of mystery-thriller tropes

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Though the text has been soundly and repeatedly discredited, copies still exist, and some of its portrayals of Jews remain frequent antisemitic tropes today. —Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2024

Don Johnson as Elvis is a take on the divorced dad trope, albeit one with all the funds to keep himself from being sad or lonely. —Tim Moffatt, EW.com, 20 May 2024

Jeannie, dressed in balloon pants and a midriff-baring top, conjured a stereotype of a Middle Eastern woman and winked at the trope that women from that part of the world were hypersexualized and often part of a harem. —Alicia Ault, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 May 2024

But the cultural pride in Oakland identified by Lamar, the trope that persists around town in cars booming with West Coast rap and murals of hip-hop legends, remains resonant. —Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 19 May 2024

Apart from one scene where Rita worries that Emilia’s partner (Adriana Paz) may have figured things out, Audiard doesn’t distract himself with that old trope. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 18 May 2024

Smith’s writing is highly self-aware, with meta comments on musical theater tropes and inside jokes about dramaturgy, the Jeff Awards and Actors’ Equity. —Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 14 May 2024

Starting in the early 1970s just a few miles from Hollywood, a generation of students at the University of California, Los Angeles, began making films that pushed hard against many of the tropes of commercial moviemaking. —Clay Risen, New York Times, 4 May 2024

The first episode contains no fewer than three characters playing on this particular trope. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Latin tropus "figure of speech" (Medieval Latin, "embellishment to the sung parts of the Mass"), borrowed from Greek trópos "turn, way, manner, style, figurative expression," noun derivative from the base of trépein "to turn," probably going back to Indo-European *trep-, whence also Sanskrit trapate "(s/he) is ashamed, becomes perplexed," Hittite te-ri-ip-zi "(s/he) ploughs"

Note: Also compared is Latin trepit, glossed as vertit "(s/he) turns," but as this form is only attested in the lexicon of the grammarian Sextus Pompeius Festus, it may be a reconstruction based on the Greek word. The word tropes (genitive case) in the Old English translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History is an isolated instance; the word was reborrowed from Latin or Greek in the 16th century.

Noun combining form

borrowed from Greek -tropos "turned, directed, living (in the manner indicated)," adjective derivative of trópos "turn, way, manner, style" — more at trope

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a