Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use trite in a sentence

13 example sentences · adjective, noun

Trite means used so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective; worn out, hackneyed. Example: “The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.”

Examples of trite by meaning

adjectiveUsed so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective; worn out, hackneyed.

  • Her people are equally simplistic and trite: evil outlaws, greedy opportunists and whores with hearts of gold.1999 November 2, Michiko Kakutani, “Books of The Times: A Single Girl Takes On the California Frontier”, in The New York Times (E section)...
  • This show is sensationally absurd and trite, and if you watch it, you know it.2025 April 3, Marina Hyde, “It’s With Love, Meghan – not just a TV show but a landmark piece of art. And not in a good way”, in The Guardian

adjectiveSo well established as to be beyond debate: trite law.

  • It is trite to say that the mere fact that a decision does not favour the applicant or that the applicant disagrees with the decision does not establish that the decision is tainted with bias.2017, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Taucar v Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, 2017 ONSC 2604

More sentences with trite

  • The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.From the entry pad
  • If there's something that is generally a trite soundbitey kind of thing, I generally don't use it.1997, Carole Rich, News Writing: Student Study Guide, page 157. From the entry soundbitey
  • She was also there when I cut my hair, which sounds trite, but for me it was a big deal.2020 November 14, Gayle MacDonald, quoting Oliver Lane, “Match: Time spent apart only strengthened Amy and Oliver’s decision to be…. From the entry be oneself
  • The trite questions are difficult and pondersome.2014, i.P. audAx, Relapse and Rescuers. From the entry pondersome
  • In contrast, his essay on coffee offered no more than a rambling and trite presentation of the arguments against anticoffee legislation.2012, Robert Liberles, Jews Welcome Coffee: Tradition and Innovation in Early Modern Germany, page 32. From the entry anticoffee
  • A sweet dark name, though finally a shrill trite woman.1985, Alice Munro, The Progress of Love, Chatto&Windus, published 1987, →ISBN, page 53. From the entry rosemary
  • Something like an interglobal war would be needed to give any genuine meaning to the trite phrase of human brotherhood.1960, Paul Anthony Brick Lectures, page 50. From the entry interglobal
  • The bromide conforms to everything sanctioned by the majority, and may be depended upon to be trite, banal, and arbitrary.1906, Gelett Burgess, Are You a Bromide?. From the entry arbitrary
  • One week after his initial phone call, we were on our way to raid Mikey's trite home armed with a federal search warrant.2001 June 1, Mark Hunter, The Powder, Their Paper and Pools of Blood, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 186. From the entry nemesis
  • "Young men will be young men; you can't put an old head on young shoulders," he added, repeating trite sayings as if they were original with himself.1901, Pauline E. Hopkins, Hagar's Daughter, ch. 25 (Google preview) (in The Magazine Novels of Pauline Hopkins, Oxford, 1990). From the entry you can't put an old head on young shoulders

Meaning of trite

  1. adjective Used so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective; worn out, hackneyed.
  2. adjective So well established as to be beyond debate: trite law.
  3. noun A denomination of coinage in ancient Greece equivalent to one third of a stater.

Full definition of trite

Questions about trite in a sentence

How do you use trite in a sentence?
Trite is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The author began to pad her succinct stories with trite descriptions to keep up with current market trends.”
What is a short sentence with trite?
“The trite questions are difficult and pondersome.”
What does trite mean?
Trite means used so many times that it is commonplace, or no longer interesting or effective; worn out, hackneyed.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: trite (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use trite in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/trite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.