- hackneyed (adj.)
- "trite, so overused as to have become uninteresting," 1749, figurative use of past participle adjective from hackney (v.) "use a horse for riding" (1570s), hence "make common by indiscriminate use" (1590s), from hackney (n.), and compare hack (n.2) in its specialized sense of "one who writes anything for hire." From 1769 as "kept for hire."
