3 uses
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Definition
lacking impact due to too much previous exposure — especially writing that is unimaginative and filled with overused expressions, ideas, and formulas
- I have seen a gipsy vagabond; she has practised in hackneyed fashion the science of palmistry and told me what such people usually tell.Chapter 18 (90% in)
hackneyed = lacking impact due to too much previous exposure
- Then take my word for it, — I am not a villain: you are not to suppose that — not to attribute to me any such bad eminence; but, owing, I verily believe, rather to circumstances than to my natural bent, I am a trite commonplace sinner, hackneyed in all the poor petty dissipations with which the rich and worthless try to put on life.Chapter 14 (63% in)
- Before commencing, it is but fair to warn you that the story will sound somewhat hackneyed in your ears; but stale details often regain a degree of freshness when they pass through new lips.Chapter 33 (20% in)
There are no more uses of "hackneyed" in Jane Eyre.
Typical Usage
(best examples)