What is a Cliché? Definition, Examples, and How to Avoid Them

Have you ever groaned out loud at an obvious and unoriginal phrase, plot point, or character in a book? Clichés can set readers on high alert — making them question the author's ability and imagination and pulling them out of the story. But what are some examples, and how can you avoid them in your writing? Read on for everything you need to know about clichés.

What is a cliché?

A cliché is an overused saying, character, plot, or other story element that has lost its ability to surprise or engage readers. For example, thanks to the likes of Cinderella and Snow White, there is no longer anything imaginative or shocking about an evil stepmother.

That said, clichés aren’t inherently boring. In fact, many well-worn ideas were once fresh and inspiring, which is why people kept repeating them — so much so that they became boring and unoriginal. The first audience of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice likely thrilled upon hearing, “all that glitters is not gold.” But now, after four hundred years, the phrase has all but lost its impact.

It’s not the same as a trope

Before we dive in, let’s set one thing straight: a cliché is not the same as a trope. A trope is a recurring pattern in literature, for example a damsel in distress. However, there are many ways to write a trope, some of which are a cliché and some of which are not.

A princess trapped in a tower (like in Sleeping Beauty  and Rapunzel) is a cliché version of the damsel in distress trope, but it’s perfectly possible to add your own spin and come up with a more original story — perhaps a junior attorney who is “trapped” in a career she hates. This follows the broad pattern of the trope but is not a cliché.

Now we’ve got that out of the way, let’s look at some examples of different types of clichés.

Dead descriptions

First up, we have similes, metaphors, and other expressions that no longer add value to writing. They pop up left, right, and center like a broken record, as familiar as the back of your hand: these descriptions will fall flat as a pancake and ring as empty as a hollow tree. When a phrase is this overused, we no longer really think about its meaning.

Examples of descriptive clichés include:

• It’s raining cats and dogs. 
• He has a heart of gold.
• She was the life of the party.
• It was a dark and stormy night.
• They were like two peas in a pod.
  

If you spot these descriptions in your first draft, highlight them so you can come back later and kill them stone dead.

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Worn-out wisdom

Another common type of cliché are the “wise” sayings that your characters might be tempted to regurgitate in dialogue. Some of the sayings may truly be wise, but we’ve heard them so many times before that they no longer make much of an impression.

Examples of these clichés are:

• The pen is mightier than the sword.
• The grass is always greener on the other side.
• If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
• Don’t cry over spilt milk.
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

If your goal is to make your characters sound smart, then filling their mouths with dusty old clichés might not be your first course of action.

Thought-terminating clichés

A thought-terminating cliché is a turn of phrase that’s presented as wisdom, too, but usually carries even less meaning. It’s a phrase used to end an argument or complex discussion by discouraging further thought into the matter. Most people use them without even thinking, but they are often weaponized by cult leaders to stop people thinking for themselves. Still, what can we do? It is what it is — life’s not fair, and everything happens for a reason (see what we did!?).

Further examples of thought-terminating clichés are:

• Let’s agree to disagree.
• The Lord works in mysterious ways.
• You win some, you lose some.
• Rules are rules.
• It’s not that deep.

So if you’re tempted to use a thought-terminating cliché in your writing: don’t. Here endeth the lesson.

Now that we’ve seen three types of sentence-level clichés, let’s look at bigger-picture clichés in character, worldbuilding, and plot.

Character clichés

Character clichés are stock characters that feature in so many stories that they are now unoriginal — unless they are given extra depth (more on that later).

Examples include:

• The flamboyant hairdresser
• The emotionless English butler
• The unlikable rich kid
• The mad scientist
• The gossiping neighbor

These characters feel very one-dimensional and superficial, making it hard for the reader to fully invest in their fate. They’re also not as interesting or memorable as complex characters — so if you want your story to stand out, it's best to avoid them.

Worldbuilding clichés

The same impression of superficiality can be achieved by worldbuilding clichés, whether the setting is invented or the story takes place in the real world.

Some of the most common worldbuilding clichés are:

• A pseudomedieval world
• A never-ending winter
• A society that hasn’t changed in millennia
• A dystopian surveillance state
• Paris as the setting for a romance story

You can probably think of famous stories that fit some of these clichés — for instance, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien takes place in a pseudomedieval world. However, Tolkien’s Middle-earth wasn’t a cliché at the time of writing; it’s partly his influence on fantasy fiction in the past hundred years that has made pseudomedieval fantasy worlds a cliché.

Plot clichés

A plot cliché is an entire storyline that is too predictable. It’s hard for readers to get invested in a story that offers few surprises and simply rehashes something they’ve read a dozen times before.

Some common plot clichés are:

• A princess or prince is released from a curse by a true love’s kiss.
• A band of adventurers goes on a quest to find a magical artifact.
• Survivors of an apocalyptic event must adapt to life in harsh conditions.
• A heist goes wrong.
• A young orphan is the only one who can defeat a villain.

Again, you might be thinking: hang on, isn’t Harry Potter a young orphan who is the only one who can defeat a villain? Well, yes — but we wouldn’t call J.K. Rowling’s beloved children’s series a cliché! This is because the plot, characters, and indeed entire universe are complex and unique, bringing Rowling’s own creative spin to the basic storyline.

This brings us to a very important point. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these character, worldbuilding, or plot clichés. They only become a problem when they are unbelievable or vague. With added complexity, specifics, or a fresh twist, any cliché can be transformed into something more original, believable, and interesting.

Let’s take a look at some practical tips to avoid clichés and bring out your unique ideas and voice.

How to avoid clichés

1. Think of an unexpected plot twist

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a plot cliché as a starting point. This gives you a basic idea, and then you can make it your own by thinking of an unexpected twist that will surprise the reader. Maybe everyone thinks the young orphan is the only one who can defeat the villain, but in the end, it turns out to be their mentor, friend, or foster parent instead.

Disney’s Frozen does an excellent job of subverting our expectations: instead of (spoiler alert) a true love’s kiss, Anna herself performs the act of true love that saves her from turning to ice — by throwing herself between Hans’ sword and her sister Elsa.

2. Add specific details

To avoid character and worldbuilding clichés, add specific details that make your characters and world come to life. In fantasy worlds, tell us more about the history and culture that sets your civilization apart — or even better, immerse us in it through action and dialogue.

In the real world, too, take the time to sprinkle in authentic, less frequently mentioned details. It’s only a cliché to set your romance novel in Paris if you stick to the most obvious parts of the city. Instead of the Eiffel Tower, mix it up with a different romantic backdrop, like Pont Alexandre III or Square Louis XVI.

When it comes to characters, add details on their backstory, goals, and motivations. The more depth you can add to a character, the less of a cliché they will be. You can even start with a flamboyant hairdresser or emotionless English butler and then turn them into a unique individual by exploring why they come across that way and what insecurities lie beneath the surface.

For instance, in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, our narrator is Stevens, the head butler of a grand estate near Oxford. At first, he comes across as professional and emotionless — but as the novel progresses, we learn that far from fitting that cliché, he is battling feelings of inner turmoil and regret.

3. Focus on the senses

Descriptive clichés are often vague or sweeping statements. Again, the best way to break free of them is to add specifics. To evoke a stronger image, focus on the senses. Ask yourself: what would I need to see, hear, touch, smell, or even taste to justify the use of the cliché?

Instead of writing, “She was the life of the party,” think about how an observer would reach that conclusion. You might end up with something like this:

“Laughter follows her as she weaves through the crowd, her jokes landing with the perfect timing of a practiced performer. With every word, her charisma sparks the room, pulling even the shyest guests into her orbit.”

The sights and sounds in this passage conjure a much more vivid image than the descriptive cliché.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle provides a real-life example of this technique in The Hound of the Baskervilles. Instead of telling us, “It was a dark and stormy night,” he shows us by describing exactly what Watson can see, feel, and hear in a way that forms a clearer picture in our mind:

“In the evening I put on my waterproof and I walked far upon the sodden moor, full of dark imaginings, the rain beating upon my face and the wind whistling about my ears.” 

4. Add a unique spin to an overused saying

Our final tip is to take an existing cliché and modify it, surprising the reader with an unexpected and creative version of a familiar phrase. A word of warning, though: this technique can be jarring, so don’t overdo it, or you’ll pull the reader out of the story.

There are a few ways to add your unique spin:

1. Update a cliché to make it more relevant to modern life.
   Few people use swords nowadays, and not that many use pens after they leave school! It would be far more topical and humorous to say, “The keyboard is mightier than the gun.” Or, you could make a more serious statement about social media with “The grass is always greener on Instagram.”
   
   
2. Think of a more pragmatic ending.
   Albert Einstein is said to have defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Perhaps a more useful piece of advice than “try, try again” is: “If at first you don’t succeed, try a different approach.”
   
   
3. Align a cliché with the addressee’s interests.
   If a character doesn’t like milk, they won’t be crying over it! It might be more engaging, as well as original, to say, “Don’t cry over spilt apple juice.” And you’re much more likely to appeal to a wider audience with “A beer in the hand is worth two in the tap” than some nonsense about birds!

J.K. Rowling is the master of this third technique, adapting countless well-known “muggle” clichés to the wizarding world, for example: “It’s no good crying over spilt potion” and “Get off your high hippogriff.”

When should you use clichés?

Although we have just spent the whole article telling you how to avoid clichés, there are in fact some situations in which a well-chosen cliché might be effective.

You may want to use clichés for humor, irony, or to challenge popular beliefs. For example, you could exaggerate the helplessness of your fairytale damsel in distress in order to make a point about how unempowering the “princess in a tower” cliché is.

Another reason to use clichés is for characterization. Constantly spouting clichés can be a sign that a character is not a creative thinker or is trying too hard to fit in. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the title character calls everyone “Old Sport.” We eventually realize that it’s the affectation of an outsider who believes this is how people from wealthy backgrounds behave, but doesn’t quite manage to blend in.

The characters in Aldous Huxley’s A Brave New World constantly recite thought-terminating clichés such as “A gramme is better than a damn” — which means it is better to take the drug soma than allow yourself to feel negative emotions. Huxley’s use of clichés illustrates the dystopian society’s reliance on superficial pleasure to ensure conformity and suppress dissatisfaction that could lead to rebellion.

As you can see, clichés aren’t 100% bad — but they do have to be treated with caution. If you’re not sure how to make your novel more original and marketable, consider talking to a book coach. And remember: the devil’s in the details.