shibboleths

noun

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

Relevance
2
as in clichés
an idea or expression that has been used by many people there's a lot of truth in the shibboleth that if you give some people an inch, they'll take a mile

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of shibboleths Brock, like other great chefs of his generation, understand that the cuisines of the South are neither monoliths nor shibboleths. — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026 The director scores easy laughs off of modern-day progressive shibboleths such as gender-fluid pronouns, trigger warnings and Native American land acknowledgments. — Gustavo Arellano, Houston Chronicle, 25 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shibboleths
  1. slogans
  2. truisms
  3. banners
  4. platitudes
  5. tropes
  6. bromides
  7. banalities
  8. sayings
Noun
  • Protesters in Italy and Greece have referenced their French counterparts in their slogans.
    — Issy Ronald, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Many of today’s young protesters have specifically referenced that heritage in interviews and slogans.
    — Caitlin Dewey, Vox, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of slogans
Noun
  • Spain’s success over the past five years has undermined many long-standing political-economic truisms.
    — Rogé Karma, The Atlantic, 1 June 2026
  • The play isn’t subtle; the final sequence leans hard on truisms about addiction and trauma, which are affecting but overly explicit.
    — Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2026
Definition of truisms
Noun
  • In a flatbed truck adorned with SEIU banners and purple and yellow pennants, union leaders addressed a crowd of thousands.
    — Graham Womack, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Of all the banners, JD Sports is the most premium, with stores located in key cities and A-malls.
    — Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of banners
Noun
  • The big ideas we’re meant to take to heart are reduced to disingenuous platitudes.
    — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Hughes offered the usual interview platitudes and seemed to be pleased with how his team was playing.
    — Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of platitudes
Noun
  • Enemies may often become allies — one of my favorite narrative tropes.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • For decades, the novelist Tom McCarthy has dismantled the tropes of realist fiction.
    — Ruby Cramer, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of tropes
Noun
  • The president used similar bromides in private calls to assuage allies, including Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson, before launching the war in February, according to people familiar with the conversations.
    — Vivian Salama, The Atlantic, 3 June 2026
  • While these songs might appear to be somewhat straightforward EBM that wear their politics on their latex sleeve, there’s a level of ambiguity at work that moves Kissing Luck Goodbye past its own bromides and into deeper artistic territory.
    — Sadie Sartini Garner, Pitchfork, 16 Apr. 2026
Definition of bromides
Noun
  • Then morning would come, with all the banalities that drew them apart.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Aug. 2026
  • And even though access to such banalities may sound brain-deadening, and at best dull, some of the most famous people in the world are now live-streamers.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of banalities
Noun
  • Well, ‘It’s been emotional’ has become one of the British icon sayings of movie history, which is fantastic.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 3 Sep. 2026
  • As part of their annual Halloween decor drop, Anthropologie released Halloween bistro tile items that blend classic motifs and sayings with the Bistro Tile Collection’s Parisian style.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of sayings

Browse Nearby Words

shibboleth
shibboleths
shied
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shibboleths.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shibboleths. Accessed 30 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of reticent

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Pwn, Skibidi, Girlboss and Other Words Added to the 2026 Scrabble Dictionary

The Words of the Week - Oct. 30

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All