Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Tarnished, frayed, faded, or otherwise defective from being on display in a store.
- adj. Worn-out, as from overuse; trite: shopworn anecdotes.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Somewhat worn or defaced by the handling received in a shop or store, or by exposure outside a shop.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Somewhat worn or damaged by having been kept for a time in a shop.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
- adj. worn or faded from being on display in a store
Examples
“One tiny mark, a slight rip or fold, any sign that any human being had touched the book and the publishers would call it shopworn and not refund any money for an unsold book.”
“hit-the-grit" circus, and were writing to the big shows for prices on superannuated or "shopworn" animals.”
“And the nuclear priesthood to borrow a phrase from the father of our "Nuclear Navy", Admiral Hyman Rickover still uses many words and concepts that were already shopworn decades ago.”
The Huffington Post: Rory O'Connor: No Word for Meltdown: Nukespeak Returns
“Or better yet, might we construct a model that is both consistent with the evidence and more beneficial than either of those shopworn choices?”
“In my opinion, Richard Powers in The Echo Maker is attempting to retain something of the experimentation of modernist psychological realism -- or at least its goal -- but as I indicated in my post on the novel, its lackluster execution in this book is for me another signal that the technique has become increasingly shopworn.”
“As with most of its deals, it also allowed the company to avoid acknowledging wrongdoing, leading to that now-shopworn phrase in the newspapers: "GE did not admit or deny the allegations.”
The Huffington Post: Richard (RJ) Eskow: In the Dark: Crimes, Capital Crimes, And GE Capital Crimes
“It is now a shopworn trick in postmodern fiction to undermine the veracity of a narrative, so readers may be inclined to avoid "The Curfew.”
“Both Republican women have sought to capitalize on the nationwide frustration with Washington by depicting the Democrats as shopworn familiar faces who have failed to bring new jobs to the state.”
The Washington Post: Election 2010: Fiorina, Whitman try to head off Democratic victory
“As a work of philosophy, it was that same tired materialism that was shopworn in HG Wells 'day, merely taken to a logical extreme.”
MIND MELD: The Best Genre-Related Books/Films/Shows Consumed in 2009 (Part 1)
“Why I Write Science Fiction: An Apology by Alan DeNiro: "If science fiction is a choice that one makes before writing a story, then dismissing it part and parcel simply can't make sense, especially if particular writers are trying their darndest to reinvigorate the usual, even shopworn tropes-or invent new ones altogether.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘shopworn’.
-
From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
-
Ptolemy's Gate
Words and phrases from Jonathan Stroud's book, Ptolemy's Gate.
fall afoul, fleet, tamarisk, krait, inkstone, hotted up, down-market, have a truck with, brio, fatalistic, knock-kneed, conserve and 210 more...
-
compound words
My favourites.
birdbath, gallowglass, lamplight, chokecherry, lightbox, riptide, softshoe, snowshed, bluebird, matchbox, sugarcane, nightcap and 64 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for shopworn.

Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.