thought-terminating cliché

noun

A commonly used phrase or piece of folk wisdom used to quell cognitive dissonance.

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Meanings

nounthought-terminating cliché (plural thought-terminating clichés)

plural thought-terminating clichés

  1. A commonly used phrase or piece of folk wisdom used to quell cognitive dissonance.

Origin

Popularised by the book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (1961).

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Cite this entry
APA

thought-terminating cliché. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thought-terminating%20clich%C3%A9

MLA

“thought-terminating cliché.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thought-terminating%20clich%C3%A9. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thought-terminating cliché,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thought-terminating%20clich%C3%A9.

Source: thought-terminating cliché on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.