shopworn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mr. Spielberg keeps up a certain suspense via a shopworn device: withholding information known to the characters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 10, 2026

Expect a setlist of shopworn classics from the 79-year-old singer.

From Salon • Jun. 23, 2025

Without once invoking the shopworn term “mindfulness,” this stimulating collection makes an unusually effective tool for coming to one’s senses.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 6, 2023

The shopworn dialogue jibes with the largely one-note characterizations, seen most egregiously in the hidebound widow Agnes, who seems to have no thoughts beyond her distaste for the nouveau riche.

From New York Times • Jan. 23, 2022

He was fat and looked shopworn around the nose and mouth as though he had hayfever.

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway