Stale
Stale adjective - Used or heard so often as to be dull.
Usage example: viewers were bored by the stale story lines of the new crop of sitcoms
Threadbare is a synonym for stale in hackneyed topic. In some cases you can use "Threadbare" instead an adjective "Stale", when it comes to topics like overused, excite, unoriginal. popular alternative
Nearby Words: staled, staling
Threadbare
Threadbare adjective - Used or heard so often as to be dull.
Usage example: a novel filled with nothing but threadbare clichés
Mutual synonyms
Cite this Source
Threadbare and Stale. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/stale/threadbare
Stale & Threadbare. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/stale/threadbare>.
Threadbare or Stale. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/stale/threadbare.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "stale" and "threadbare" have occurred on timeline