threadbare
1
6.4
- adjective
- /ˈθrɛdˌbɛr/
:
trillado
- History would be tiresome, threadbare, without crazy.
- grew threadbare
And really it makes his excuses, his explanation for what happened increasingly the threadbare.
- And really it makes his excuses, his explanation for what happened increasingly the threadbare.
Examples
-
Pete's motivation to not stop the robber and become a hero was threadbare at best.
Blog text (24) -
I have a trunk of old dreams, some of them quite threadbare, and I would hate to have to explain why I keep them—not that it's anybody's business.
Fiction book (1997) -
The claim of class representative status is threadbare by now.
Blog text (25) -
I would wait with threadbare optimism for the answers to drop from heaven.
Fiction book (1999) -
Herald editors then run a threadbare story about them.
Blog text (19) -
Old-world men with threadbare dreams entering the fearful midnight of their lives.
Fiction book (1997) -
Morrison will always show threadbare in the end no matter how elaborately baroque his narratives.
Blog text (12) -
I could see why the man had caught Dickens's attention: he was comical in his threadbare, crazily tilted mimicry of gentility.
Fiction book (1990) -
His once clever joke has become so threadbare that no one laughs anymore.
-
The politician's threadbare excuses failed to convince the public of his honesty.
Synonyms
643
4.4
An idea or phrase used so often that it feels boring
54
3.4
Ordinary and not special or new
32
3.1
Not new or interesting because of repetition
26
6.6
Not new or interesting because it is used too often
21
7.2
Used so often that it feels boring
7
7.6
No longer original or interesting because people use it so often
3
4.6
A phrase or idea used so often that it is no longer interesting
2
4.0
Used so often that it does not feel new and seems boring
1
7.9
Not interesting because people use it too often
1
5.4
Not new because people use it too often and it is easy to guess
1
7.4
Used so often it feels like a boring idea
1
4.7
A phrase or idea used so often that it no longer seems new
1
6.8
No longer new or fashionable
Old, tired ideas that are no longer interesting
Something that is common and not special
Not original, dull and trying to seem important
Boring because it uses words or ideas people hear many times
Antonyms
Compounds
How Original
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Threadbare comes from thread ('string in cloth') and bare ('no covering'), which paints a picture of fabric worn thin until it is exposed. A helpful way to remember the other meaning is to think of an idea or phrase 'worn out' by too much use, so threadbare also means unoriginal or stale.