Proverb vs Cliche - What's the difference?
proverb | cliche | Related terms |
A phrase expressing a basic truth which may be applied to common situations.
A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.
* Bible, John xvi. 29
A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.
* Bible, Deuteronomy xxviii. 37
A drama exemplifying a proverb.
To write or utter proverbs.
To name in, or as, a proverb.
* 1671 , John Milton, Samson Agonistes , lines 203-205:
To provide with a proverb.
* Shakespeare
Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude.
(printing) A stereotype (printing plate).
Cliche is a synonym of proverb.
As nouns the difference between proverb and cliche
is that proverb is a phrase expressing a basic truth which may be applied to common situations while cliché is something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude.As a verb proverb
is to write or utter proverbs.proverb
English
(wikipedia proverb)Noun
(en noun)- His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb .
- Thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb , and a by word, among all nations.
Synonyms
* (phrase expressing a basic truth) adage, apothegm, byword, maxim, paroemia, saw, saying, sententia * See alsoDerived terms
* proverbial * proverbiology * proverbs hunt in pairsVerb
(en verb)- Am I not sung and proverbed for a fool / In every street, do they not say, "How well / Are come upon him his deserts?"
- I am proverbed with a grandsire phrase.
See also
* ----cliche
English
Alternative forms
* clicheNoun
(wikipedia cliché) (en noun)- The villain kidnapping the love interest in a film is a bit of a cliché .