# Cliché or clichéd?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 13, 2023, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504 "2023-10-13T12:37:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/1 "2023-10-13T12:37:49Z")

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I’ve always used “cliché” as the noun form and “clichéd” as the adjectival form, as in “clichéd remark,” but lately I’m seeing “cliché” used for both. Have the barbarians taken over, or am I the barbarian?

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/2 "2023-10-13T12:45:15Z")

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Perhaps we both are, as I’ve always had the same usage.

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/3 "2023-10-13T13:05:27Z")

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In French, the past participle of _clicher_ is _cliché,_ so decide whether you are going to borrow that as-is or give it an ending to make it sound more like an English past participle. Certainly I can quote instances of either usage.

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**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/4 "2023-10-13T13:08:14Z")

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> [@DPRK](#):
>
> Certainly I can quote instances of either usage.

Certainement. But is “a clichéd adage” increasingly common and accepted?

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**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/5 "2023-10-13T13:26:02Z")

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The OED says "cliché” can be either a noun or an adjective. Its first citation of the adjectival sense is from 1895.

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/6 "2023-10-13T14:24:58Z")

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It’s common for a noun to be used as an adjective:

> **[Everyday Grammar: When Nouns Act Like Adjectives](https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/everyday-grammar-when-nouns-act-like-adjectives/2998821.html)**
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> English speakers usually modify a noun with an adjective. Today the Everyday Grammar team looks at the times English speakers modify a noun with another noun. Learn how to say and write them correctly in this episode.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cliche-or-cliched/991504/7 "2023-10-13T14:31:57Z")

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> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#):
>
> It’s common for a noun to be used as an adjective

True but not relevant IIUC. No one’s claiming that “cliche” is an attributive noun.