cliché

This term carries a strong negative connotation of laziness or intellectual stagnation. It describes a concept that may have once been fresh or meaningful but has become hollow through repetitive use, leaving the speaker or writer appearing uninspired. As a noun, it is a standard countable noun. When used as an adjective, it functions as a descriptor for the quality of a work, often interchangeable with "hackneyed" or "trite" to signal a lack of creative effort.