hackneyed

- 4 dictionary results

hack⋅neyed

[hak-need]

–adjective

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

Origin:
1740–50; hackney + -ed ²

Synonyms:
overdone, overused. See commonplace.

[hak-nee]

noun, plural -neys, adjective, verb

–noun

1.	Also called hackney coach. a carriage or coach for hire; cab.

2.	a trotting horse used for drawing a light carriage or the like.

3.	a horse used for ordinary riding or driving.

4.	(initial capital letter) one of an English breed of horses having a high-stepping gait.

–adjective

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

–verb (used with object)

6.	to make trite, common, or stale by frequent use.

7.	to use as a hackney.

Origin:
1300–50; ME hakeney, special use of placename Hackney, Middlesex, England

Related forms:

hack⋅ney⋅ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To hackneyed

hack·ney (hāk'nē)

n. pl. hack·neys

often Hackney A horse of a breed developed in England, having a gait characterized by pronounced flexion of the knee.
A trotting horse suited for routine riding or driving; a hack.
A coach or carriage for hire.

tr.v. hack·neyed, hack·ney·ing, hack·neys

adj.

[Middle English hakenei, probably after Hakenei, Hackney, a borough of London, England, where such horses were raised.]

hack·neyed (hāk'nēd)

adj. Overfamiliar through overuse; trite.

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