figurative. Of an immaterial thing: That has lost its freshness, novelty, or interest; hackneyed, worn out, out of date; effete. (Frequent in…

Of a person: old, past his or her prime. rare.

Of an expression, phrase, etc.: stale or tired through indiscriminate use; overused; banal; hackneyed (now somewhat rare). Formerly also: †usual…

esp. Having lost its influence, freshness, or force by much use; trite from constant repetition; commonplace, stale, hackneyed.

Of ideas, devices, etc.: Hackneyed by use, trite, stale, out of fashion. Of institutions: Effete.

Resembling or having the character of a hack writer or hack writing; amateurish; hackneyed.

worn to the thread, threadbare; also, of a screw, having a worn thread. See also threadbare, adj., thread-lace, n., etc.

depreciative. Commonplace; hackneyed, trite.

colloquial. That has become old-fashioned; hackneyed.

Characterized by or exhibiting a lack of innovation or imagination; formulaic, standardized; predictable; = join-the-dots, adj. 2. Cf. paint-by-nu…

Characterized by or exhibiting a lack of innovation or imagination; formulaic, standardized; predictable; = connect-the-dots, adj. 2. Cf. paint-by-nu…