Dictionary

shopworn en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (General-American) audio
• /ˈʃɑpˌwɔɹn/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈʃɒpwɔːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From shop (noun) + worn (adjective).

Meanings

1. Of a product in a retail store: damaged from being on display and handled by customers, etc.; shop-soiled.
   • Broke Sycamores by Oaks may be ſuppli'd: / Faln bricks by ſtones to make a Building fair; / But by ſuch patching 'tvvill be vvorſe alaſs, / Nevv generous vvine vvill break old Shop-vvorn Glaſs. 1666, Abraham Chear, “A Mourner’s Mite, towards the Right Remembrance of that Late Labourer in the Gospel, Thomas Glass, who Rested from His Work on Earth, the 30th. Day of the 7th. Month, 1666”, in Henry Jessey; H. P., compilers, A Looking-glass for Children. Being a Narrative of God’s Gracious Dealings with Some Little Children; […], 2nd edition, London: […] Robert Boulter, […], published 1673, →OCLC, page 93:
   • The handbag looks nice, but shopworn.
2. (figuratively) Not fresh or new. ▸ Of an idea, a piece or writing, etc.: repeated so often as to have become uninteresting; clichéd, overused, tired.
   • The shopworn ghost-story part of the tale has been energized by the brilliant performance of little Owen Meany, who—despite his diminutive size—is a huge presence onstage; the miniature Meany simply dwarfs the other performers. 1989, John Irving, “The Ghost of the Future”, in A Prayer for Owen Meany […], New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, →ISBN, page 185:
   • New York is positioned as the third protagonist—literally, as the characters repeatedly tell each other. Recycled aerial footage of the city underlines just how generic this particular insight is. The whole film is like that, its dialogue constantly poking fun and calling attention to the shopworn conventions. 2014 June 26, A. A. Dowd, “Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler Spoof Rom-com Clichés in They Came Together”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2017:
   • Peace with honour—that immortal phrase coined by the greatest phrase-maker of his generation—has become slightly shop[-]worn, although still admittedly serviceable, and honour is not lightly to be defined. 1909 October, Horace Annesley Vachell, “The Paladin’s Quest”, in The Paladin: As Beheld by a Woman of Temperament, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, →OCLC, book II, page 110:
   • [Elon] Musk is our avatar of infinite possibility, our usher to the remade world, where shopworn practices are cast aside and the unprecedented becomes logical, where Earth and humanity can still be saved. 2021 December 13, Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, Alejandro de la Garza, “Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2021:
3. (figuratively) Not fresh or new. ▸ Of an object: faded, shabby.

Forms

Relateds

shopwear

Synonyms

threadbare · shop-soiled · timeworn · bathetic · timeworn · clichéd · hackneyed · corny · stock · timeworn · overworked · tired · cheesy · dog-eared · banal · shop-soiled · pat · shopworn · trite · commonplace · overdone · bromidic · overused · warmed-over · played out · well-worn · hoary · stale

Translations (2)

pl zleżały (of a product in a retail store: damaged from being on display and handled by customers, etc.) · fi kaupassa kulunut (of a product in a retail store: damaged from being on display and handled by customers, etc.)