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

“Gone Before Goodbye” is not some magpie creature patched together from shopworn thriller tropes, even if certain plot elements feel a bit much.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 6, 2025

Although she states repeatedly that she doesn’t want to rely on the shopworn story of motherhood as the ultimate expression of the female experience, some passages flirt with this trope.

From Salon • Oct. 11, 2023

“Knowledge is power” might be a shopworn cliché, but when it comes to emergencies, it’s absolutely true.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 11, 2023

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

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway