SHIBBOLETHS Synonyms: 39 Similar and Opposite Words

shibboleths

noun

plural of shibboleth

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

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

profundities

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 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

Noun

After slogans criticizing the Sacramento State administration appeared in chalk on the facade of a 64-year-old campus building earlier this week, at least one student is now facing potential disciplinary action.

— Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Pearl warned that many people repeat activist slogans without understanding their historical weight.

— Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 Sep. 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

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
Because the story lines are facile fakes, because the characters are blanked out, the substance of relationships is reduced to dialogue of generalities and platitudes.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of platitudes

Noun

The South London artist channels Disney soundtrack tropes into claustrophobic strings and drones, while a handful of vocal tracks hint darkly at real-world family drama.

— Daniel Bromfield, Pitchfork, 7 Oct. 2026
Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 manga laid the groundwork for some of the genre's most enduring tropes (gender switching, horny old guys, tournaments), and this is the second anime adaptation, this time from Studio MAPPA.

— K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 2 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

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Style

“Shibboleths.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shibboleths. Accessed 10 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of shibboleths

noun

Example Sentences

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