hackneyed

UK: /ˈhæknid/ US: /ˈhæknid/ ,(hak′nēd)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

hack•neyed /ˈhæknid/   adj. 

1. commonplace or trite;
   very ordinary and uninteresting:
   The play had a hackneyed plot.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hack•neyed  (hak′nēd), adj. 

1. made commonplace or trite;
   stale;
   banal:
   the hackneyed images of his poetry.

• hackney + -ed² 1740–50

Synonyms

overdone, overused. See commonplace. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hackneyed / ˈhæknɪd/ adjective

1. (of phrases, fashions, etc) used so often as to be trite, dull, and stereotyped

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

hack•ney  (hak′nē), n., pl. -neys, adj., v. 
n. 

1. Transport Also called hackney coach. a carriage or coach for hire;
   cab.
2. Dog and Cat Breeds a trotting horse used for drawing a light carriage or the like.
3. Dog and Cat Breeds a horse used for ordinary riding or driving.
4. Dog and Cat Breeds (cap.) one of an English breed of horses having a high-stepping gait.

adj. 

5. let out, employed, or done for hire.

v.t. 

6. to make trite, common, or stale by frequent use.
7. to use as a hackney.

• Middle English hakeney, special use of placename Hackney, Middlesex, England 1300–50

hack′ney•ism, n. 

Hack•ney  (hak′nē), n. 

1. Place Names a borough of Greater London, England. 206,200.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

hackney / ˈhæknɪ/ noun

1. a compact breed of harness horse with a high-stepping trot
2. a coach or carriage that is for hire
3. a popular term for hack21

verb

1. (tr; usually passive) to make commonplace and banal by too frequent use

Etymology: 14th Century: probably after Hackney, where horses were formerly raised; sense 4 meaning derives from the allusion to a weakened hired horse