Illustration of hackney
- hackney 1c
plural hackneys
1
a
: a horse suitable for ordinary riding or driving
b
: a trotting horse used chiefly for driving
c
often capitalized
: any of an English breed of rather compact usually chestnut, bay, or brown high-stepping horses
2
: a carriage or automobile kept for hire
3
obsolete
: one that works for hire
1
: kept for public hire
hackney cabs
2
3
archaic
: done or suitable for doing by a drudge
hackneyed; hackneying
1
a
: to make common or frequent use of
b
: to make trite, vulgar, or commonplace
2
archaic
: to make sophisticated or jaded
Synonyms
Examples of hackney in a Sentence
Adjective
she quickly learned to ignore her children's hackney complaints like “It isn't fair” and “Why me?”
Verb
advertisers have hackneyed the word “revolutionary” so much that it now just means that a product is new
Recent Examples on the Web
Simon Webster, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
Feinberg is still driving under the same hackney carriage medallion that he was issued in 1975, according to police.
—Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 10 July 2018
Peter Hartlaub, Orange County Register, 6 Apr. 2017
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Noun
Acceptable modes of transit include a 1969 Mini Cooper, any model of Range Rover that Prince Philip once drove, or a hackney carriage.
—Simon Webster, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
Feinberg is still driving under the same hackney carriage medallion that he was issued in 1975, according to police.
—Danny McDonald, BostonGlobe.com, 10 July 2018
Verb
Director Zach Braff runs in the opposite direction of these stereotypes and all other things hackneyed, crafting an enjoyable time at the movies.
—Peter Hartlaub, Orange County Register, 6 Apr. 2017
Dictionary Entries Near hackney
Cite this Entry
“Hackney.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hackney. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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