as in cliche
an idea or expression that has been used by many people
the play's dialogue featured all of the groaners that seem to be de rigueur for any dysfunctional-family drama
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Recent Examples of groaner
The only possible groaner, a joke about school shootings, clearly worked with the improv audience but, Wood reasoned, needed to come later in Saturday’s set, once the audience had grown to trust him a bit.
—
Wesley Lowery, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Evidently the authors — and the director, Jack O’Brien — meant to glue the show together with groaners, a gutsy if not entirely successful move.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
The pointillistic eclecticism of @NYT_first_said does tend to highlight the linguistic extremes—the novelties and the gags and the groaners.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023
White’s favorite joke is an all-time groaner.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Dec. 2021
Sometimes that’s with a good old groaner.
—al, 7 Mar. 2021
There's already been some on-track action, but the first big groaner for the GTP class happens to BMW, when the No. 25 car comes to a halt on the track, sort of half in, half out of the exit.
—Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 30 Jan. 2023
The premise for this TV One comedy is a groaner: A woman who followed in the footsteps of her mother and had a child at 16 will go to silly lengths to keep her 16-year-old daughter from doing the same.
—Dawn Burkes, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2021
Scott performs on the track like a bizarro Young Thug, incapable of wringing any enthusiasm out of his voice, and delivers some egregious groaner punchlines, while Drake continues to burrow into narcissism.
—Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2021
Wesley Lowery, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Evidently the authors — and the director, Jack O’Brien — meant to glue the show together with groaners, a gutsy if not entirely successful move.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2023
The pointillistic eclecticism of @NYT_first_said does tend to highlight the linguistic extremes—the novelties and the gags and the groaners.
—Max Norman, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2023
White’s favorite joke is an all-time groaner.
—Jeff McDonald, San Antonio Express-News, 13 Dec. 2021
Sometimes that’s with a good old groaner.
—al, 7 Mar. 2021
There's already been some on-track action, but the first big groaner for the GTP class happens to BMW, when the No. 25 car comes to a halt on the track, sort of half in, half out of the exit.
—Elana Scherr, Car and Driver, 30 Jan. 2023
The premise for this TV One comedy is a groaner: A woman who followed in the footsteps of her mother and had a child at 16 will go to silly lengths to keep her 16-year-old daughter from doing the same.
—Dawn Burkes, Los Angeles Times, 1 Dec. 2021
Scott performs on the track like a bizarro Young Thug, incapable of wringing any enthusiasm out of his voice, and delivers some egregious groaner punchlines, while Drake continues to burrow into narcissism.
—Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for groaner
Noun
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According to Nate, what makes working with Marielle satisfying isn’t just her determination to avoid the cliche, but her willingness to look for the best idea up until the last possible minute.Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 3 Dec. 2024
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Of the many threadbare cliches passed down among wine lovers, the idea that white wines do not merit aging is among the most egregious.Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 25 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The trope of the toxic drama teacher rears its head: David and Sarah’s enigmatic acting teacher, Mr. Kingsley, manipulates their emotions and desires in the name of art.Tajja Isen, The Atlantic, 11 Dec. 2024
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For every scrap of unique texture, there’s a reminder that A Complete Unknown is content to indulge in the most shopworn tropes of musical biopics.Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 10 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The history of wellness suggests that the best way to defuse Kennedy’s power is not by litigating each one of his beliefs, some of which are irrefutable health truisms, but by understanding why the promise of being well has such lasting appeal.Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024
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Yet, in business, this truism is often easier said than internalized.Mark Kane, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near groaner
Cite this Entry
“Groaner.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/groaner. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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