threadbare

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
  2. adjective having the nap worn away so that the threads show through

Etymology

PIE word *bʰosós From Middle English thred-bar, thred-bare (“of cloth, clothing, etc.: worn to such an extent that the warp and weft threads show, shabby, worn-out; (figurative) inadequate, poor”) [and other forms], from thred (“piece of textile twine”) (from Old English þrǣd (“thread”), from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz (“thread; twisted fibre”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to drill, pierce; to rub; to turn, twist”)) + bar, bare (“naked, unclothed, bare; not covered”) (from Old English bær (“naked, bare; unconcealed”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“naked, bare”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰosós (“bare; barefoot”)). The English word is analysable as thread + bare.

In classic literature

Synonyms

banal, commonplace, hackneyed, old-hat, shopworn, stock, timeworn, tired, trite, well-worn

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