trope
- 01 C1 Advanced
n.a common idea, situation, or character type that appears often in stories or films.
n.a recurring thematic element, plot device, or structural convention within a particular genre of art or literature.
Simple“The 'chosen one' is a very common trope in fantasy novels.”
In context“Modern horror films often subvert the 'final girl' trope to surprise audiences who are familiar with the genre's established conventions.”
Synonyms - 02 C2 Proficiency
n.a word or phrase used in a way that is not literal, like a metaphor.
n.a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression; a rhetorical figure of speech.
Simple“The poet used the trope of a fading flower to represent old age.”
In context“The professor's lecture focused on the use of irony as a central trope in eighteenth-century satirical pamphlets.”
Synonymsmetaphorfigure of speechAntonymsliteralism - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.a short piece of music or text added to a church service to make it more beautiful.
n.a phrase, sentence, or verse added to the text of the liturgy for embellishment or as a musical interpolation.
Simple“The choir performed a medieval trope during the Christmas service.”
In context“Scholars argue that these liturgical tropes eventually evolved into the earliest forms of Western drama.”
Synonyms - 04 C2 Proficiency
v.to use a common story idea or to turn something into a trope.
v.to represent or embellish something through the use of tropes; to turn a concept into a recurring motif.
Simple“The director decided to trope the detective's dark past using black-and-white flashbacks.”
In context“The author tends to trope historical events, transforming complex political realities into simplified narrative symbols.”
Synonymsmetaphorizestylize
“His comments, made during an interview for Israel’s army radio, played into a common far-right Islamophobic trope about Britain’s small Muslim population.”
“They don’t see it as a rehash, but a new angle on traditional songwriting tropes.”
From Latin tropus, from Ancient Greek τρόπος (trópos, “a manner, style, turn, way; a trope or figure of speech; a mode in music; a mode or mood in logic”), related to τροπή (tropḗ, “solstice; trope; turn”) and τρέπειν (trépein, “to turn”); compare turn of phrase. The verb is derived from the noun.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.