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Meanings of threadbare in English

Repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse.

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Threadbare.

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Usage of threadbare in English
1
In spite of the threadbare phrases, genuine pain vibrated in her tone.
Far to Seek / A Romance of England and India
2
The World Trade Center attack was a threadbare operation in many respects.
Ghost wars
3
In the unlimited leisure of the wilderness, discussion had been worn threadbare.
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking
4
Halfway across the threadbare lawn, a croaking voice erupted from the house.
Touching darkness
5
Then to give the following, and cease before the thought gets threadbare:
Complete Prose Works / Specimen Days and Collect, November Bough...
6
As for Jane, she was the natural prey of a threadbare poet.
Celt and Saxon — Volume 2
7
The mourning garments may grow white and threadbare, the heart remains dark.
Notre-Dame de Paris
8
The grass on Wednesday was threadbare in places and discoloured in others.
Reuters
9
He wore no coat, only a boiled-wool riding jacket, threadbare with age.
House of Bathory
10
He could hear nothing, but the drip, drip on the threadbare carpet.
The picture of Dorian Gray (First printing version)
11
She pressed the cat to her threadbare bosom with a breathless exclamation.
Under Western Eyes
12
It is now not even that, for it sounds antiquated and threadbare.
Chopin : the Man and His Music
13
Jasher took a cup of tea-we need not talk the subject threadbare.
The Green Mummy
14
My best are threadbare, and my shoes are out at the toes.
Heroes of the Telegraph
15
I brought with me some sweets, and wore a threadbare fustian suit.
The Mammoth Book of Steampunk
16
Several books, too, and the threadbare rug drifted about in lazy suspension.
Nevermore
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More collocations
Threadbare through the time
Threadbare across language varieties
United Kingdom
Common
United States of America
Common