shibboleths

plural of shibboleth
1
as in slogans
an attention-getting word or phrase used to publicize something (as a campaign or product) we knew that their claim of giving "the best deal in town" was just a shibboleth

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shibboleths
Noun
  • The Church, which is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is best known for organizing pickets at soldiers’ funerals and emblazoning anti-LGBT slogans on protest signs and billboards.
    Lilit Marcus, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2025
  • What To Know On Tuesday, protesters were seen waving Irish flags, holding placards with anti-immigrant slogans, and throwing glass bottles and fireworks at police, according to videos posted on social media.
    Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Spoofing slashers and their tired cliches with a new perspective, the comedy features Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as good-natured hillbillies assumed to be backwoods psycho killers by a bunch of college students.
    Brian Truitt, USA Today, 18 Oct. 2025
  • New novels are rightly praised for breaking with traditional forms and criticized for turning to stale formulas and cliches.
    Nathaniel Moore September 10, Literary Hub, 10 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • According to Macy’s, the company plans to expand the fulfillment and replenishment service to products sold via Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury banners over the next two years.
    Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Newspapers reported that more than 300 protesters, including coal dealers, operators and miners, parked their trucks outside City Hall, waving banners.
    Robert Wyss, The Conversation, 21 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • But the movie’s soft-hearted underbelly fails to support that reading, and by the time the story finally arrives at its final moments, the unsparing cynicism that supplied its initial lift has been dragged back down to Earth by the weight of bland truisms.
    David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Continue reading … BLIND LOYALTY – Karine Jean-Pierre has rocky rollout for book as reviews pan Biden defense, platitudes.
    , FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2025
  • Survivors need concrete safety and justice, not spiritual platitudes.
    Ed Gaskin, Boston Herald, 19 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • The book is about primal insecurities and relatable fears, explored through the lens of classic horror tropes.
    Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2025
  • Unfortunately though, Cooper can’t escape certain hackneyed biopic tropes in representing the songwriting, which are almost impossible to avoid.
    Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 23 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • There is an outright rejection of bromides that would give us some conclusion of reassurance.
    Richard Newby, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2025
  • Incidents of such poisoning saw a sharp decline when the Food and Drug Administration phased out the use of bromides in pharmaceuticals between the mid 70s and late 1980s.
    Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 13 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Written by Noah Oppenheim, Bigelow’s real-time thriller about the banalities and actualities of a fictional-in-premise-only nuclear attack on the United States is Netflix’s best horse in the race at the Oscars this year.
    Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 19 Sep. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Shibboleths.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shibboleths. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

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